I'm With You
by DarkElements10
Summary: I'm looking for a place, I'm searching for a face, is anybody here I know? 'Cause nothing's going right, and everything's a mess, and no one likes to be alone. Kiley-centric request for Pebbles7092. -Rated M for sexuality-
1. Prologue

**I'm With You**

**By: Riles**

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><p><strong>.:Prologue:.<strong>

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><p>The cold-muddy water splashed onto my ankles and knees as I ran threw the murky puddles, water splashing at my sides. My chest heaved as my heart began to pound faster inside my breast. The muscles in my legs cried for me to quit, but I couldn't. I couldn't stop until I found the person that was calling my name.<p>

_Kendall._

_Kendall._

_Kendall, help me._

I tried to quicken my pace, but I was unable. My body was giving out on me. Just as despair flooded my spirit I spotted a steel fence in the distance.

As I approached the fence, I closed the remaining distance as fast as I could. My feet slipped, my shoes caked in mud unable to find their place. I willed my arms to pull my weight over the fence. I clambered over the fence and fell heavily onto my side. I got to my feet and ran again, albeit very slowly this time, my chest was on fire, but still I couldn't stop. I kept running until I reached the street, cars drove by me so fast that it sent wave after wave of water over me, but I was already so soaked, so numb, that I couldn't tell.

It was just like LA, the people didn't even bother to stop and see if I was ok, I'm sure I lookd a mess and in distress, but they didn't stop.

And neither would I.

Not until I figured out who was calling my name…

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><p><strong>AN/: This is a request for Pebbles7092, she wanted a Kiley centric story (with other pairings that I wanted to put) and it took me a while to come up with an idea for it. But I was listening to the song I'm With You by Avril Lavigne and immediately got my idea. The prologue may seem really vague and out of place, but it fits the story, trust me. I hope that you guys enjoy the story and review.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	2. You say stubborn like it's a bad thing

**.:CHAPTER ONE - You Say Stubborn Like It's A Bad Thing:.**

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><p>"So Kendall, where are we going next?" Katie Knight asked as she licked her ice cream cone, grinning happily as she continued to walk along the crowded sidewalks of LA next to her big brother. "Sunglass Hut? I don't know about you, but I need some more shades."<p>

Kendall Knight let out a sigh that was two-parts exasperation and one part a loving sigh. Sweat rolled down his neck and he wiped it away before he looked down at his watch and then pulled his wallet out of his pocket. "Well, we could get you some more sunglasses at Sunglass Hut, but even Gustavo won't let me spend that much money in one day."

"But don't you get a lot of money from being in BTR?" Katie asked as she looked up at her older brother. "I mean, I'm not completely stupid, I know how businesses work, even when you have a lot of sales and stuff done and you don't get much from that, I know that you're supposed to get enough to live nicely for a while." She placed on hand on her hip. "Is Gustavo stiffing you guys for money?"

Kendall laughed at his sister's antics. Being in the new upcoming band Big Time Rush did have its perks, after putting out one album, it had already gone gold and they were already getting a lot of recognition for it. He and his best friends (James Diamond, Logan Mitchell, and Carlos Garcia) didn't think that they were all going to get that big. Well, that's not exactly true, James knew that _he_ was going to get big, because that was all he wanted to do

He looked down at the many bags that loaded Katie's arms out of the corner of his eye. "Don't even tell anyone that you're not girly."

"Just because I like to shop doesn't make me girly." Katie reasoned calmly as she continued to lick her ice cream.

"Yeah, but making your big brother pay for everything, without even offering him a lick of your ice cream is." Kendall replied sharply. With that, he reached around Katie's shoulders, and tapped her opposite shoulder, the one that was the furthest from him. As she turned to look, Kendall swooped his head down and took the opportunity to take a large bite, smiling as the cool, sweet, dessert melted on his tongue.

"Hey!" Katie cried and punched him on the arm.

"You're too slow, Katie." Kendall reasoned as he swallowed the mouthful of ice cream. "That's the only reason that you need to do a sport, and stop tricking people out of their money."

"Actually Katie could probably make a lot of money for her scamming people out of their money." A familiar voice spoke up behind them. "It's called being a Black Jack dealer, Hockey-Head."

Kendall's upper lip curled at the corner as he and Katie turned around to see their friend Riley Jackson standing behind them. She brushed her black hair out of her face, her blue eyes flashing with the sarcastic jab, as their eyes met, her right arm held a bag of groceries.

"Seriously, what have I done to make you call me Hockey-Head?" Kendall asked in exasperation. "Do you seriously, not know my name?"

"I know your name," Riley replied so patiently it seemed like she was talking to a three-year old. "I just don't care enough to use it. Besides, since when I first met you," she paused. "And I'm still wondering whether or not it was a good thing," she said as a side-note. "All you blabbered on and on about was hockey, so and I couldn't think of any other nickname that was as fitting as Hockey-Head." As she spoke, her American Accent slowly switched to her Australian one, something that she did whenever she got worked up (as Kendall and Katie noticed after getting to know her and her brothers and sister.)

"Ouch, burn!" Katie grinned as she looked back and forth between the two older teens. She turned back to Riley and her smile faded a little when she noticed a dark spot by her right eye. "Hey, Riles, what happened to your eye?"

"My..eye…?" Riley slowly brought a hand up to her face and felt the puffy skin, her eyebrows flying up as if she had just noticed that it was there. "Oh that, that's nothing." She shoved her free hand into her jeans pocket. "I was chasing Syd around yesterday and I turned around a corner too early and ran into it." She shrugged one shoulder. "It's nothing that I'm not used to."

Kendall narrowed his eyes for a second. _That sounded really bitter. _He thought to himself as he studied her face. "Because you're a klutz?" he ventured.

"Yeah, that's it." Riley replied shortly.

_And once again you go into stony silence where no one can tell what you're thinking. _Kendall thought as he shoved his wallet back into his pocket and looked around as he watched pedestrians stroll by them leisurely.

"Are you guys headed back to the Palm Woods?" Riley asked, grabbing their attention again. She didn't wait for them to give her an answer. "I can drive you back," she pulled her car keys out of her pocket and jingled them. "I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt if I left you out here to wait for the bus to take you back."

"Thanks!" Katie's eyes grew wide as she grinned, quickly finishing her ice cream. "That's really nice of you, you don't have to."

"I know I don't," Riley reached out and ruffled Katie's hair. "But you just grew on me." Katie pushed her hand away and smiled wider. Her eyes flicked to Kendall. "At least one of you did."

_Yeah, she'd be nice to you. _Kendall frowned, a little annoyed. _She's always nice to you, and yet she just makes fun of me and seems to make my life harder rather than easier. _He grimaced. _Well, that's not exactly true; she helps me with your music and everything, so you can't say that she's not a friend._

"I have to get my brother from a friend's house," Riley said as she walked by the siblings and led them to her car, a 2010 Ford Focus. "But since I'm being nice, I'll just drop you guys off first and then go get him." She popped open the trunk of the car and put the groceries inside, closing it with a sharp snap before rounding to the front and getting into the driver's seat.

Kendall and Katie climbed into the car as well and buckled up, only seconds before Riley backed out of her parking space so fast that their heads slammed against the seats. She pulled out of the parking lot and merged onto the road, heading towards the Palm Woods, turning on the radio as she went.

"So if you have to pick up your brother, how come you don't get him first, if he's on the way?" Kendall asked as he rested his elbow out of window, the wind blowing through his hair. "And then drop us off last?"

"Because I already made up my mind, that's why!" Riley snapped back, reaching forward and turning up the volume on the radio, drowning him out.

_Sheesh. Touchy._ Kendall thought to himself as he looked in the rearview mirror at his sister. Katie just raised her eyebrows in reply, smiling back at him as she crossed her arms over her chest. Obviously she was enjoying this; then again, he enjoyed watching anyone's arguments as long as she wasn't the one being yelled at. _Yeah, you just go ahead and keep smiling._

They drove back to the Palm Woods in silence, Kendall was afraid that if he tried to say anything, it would just cause her to snap at him again, Katie was just bopping along with the music that filled the car, singing along to different songs every now and then, and Riley just continued to focus on the road, looking out her window every now and then.

"Thanks for the ride, Riley!" Katie waved and hurried out of the car, running into the Palm Woods as soon as the raven-haired girl pulled the car into a parking spot and parked it.

"You're welcome!" Riley called after her, waving a hand as she brushed her hair out of her face. She expected Kendall to get out of the car just as fast, but he still continued to sit there. She looked over at him. "I'm not sure if you're aware of it, Hockey-Head, but this is your home too."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Kendall asked as he shot her a teasing smile.

"To put it bluntly, yes." Riley replied honestly and waved a hand towards the Palm Woods.

"God forbid the day you're not blunt." Kendall slapped a hand over his heart and gave her a wide-eyed look, to which she just

"Touché."

"It bothers you that I was right, doesn't it?" Kendall asked, grinning to himself when he noticed Riley's lips purse. It was apparent that she wasn't going to admit that he was right, no matter how glaringly obvious it was. "Why don't you just admit it?" He was messing with her, just because he knew that it was working. _She's just too easy to annoy._

"Because it's my car and I made the gracious decision to drive you home," she replied sharply. "Now get out!"

'_But really, the sarcastic comments are what I live for. The uncaring movements hide the caring motivations. I know what you're hiding. All those smirks, snide remarks, being sarcastic…It's too late. I've seen your softer side. I want you to at least notice me. Even if it's for a second. More than just 'Hockey-Head'. But that's not your nature. So why did I choose you?' _

Kendall laughed to himself and shook his head as he climbed out of the passenger seat of the car. He got Riley's attention, halting her as her hand moved towards the ignition. "Has anyone ever told you that you can be really stubborn?" Kendall asked as he ran his fingers through his hair and then leaning against the door, resting his crossed arms on the doorframe.

Riley took her time answering as a smirk slid onto her face. She hooked her pig-tails behind her ears and turned to look at him, her blue eyes flashing in a challenge.

"You say 'stubborn' like it's a bad thing." She commented seconds before slamming the car in reverse and disappearing from sight.

Kendall shook his head, although he was still smiling.

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><p><strong>AN: Well, there's the first chapter, I hope that you guys liked it. Not much to say about it so far, but I'm already enjoying writing it. (Three guesses why and the first two don't count.) ;) So this chapter was about Kendall, the next one is about Riley, and it'll go back and forth from there.**

**Some of this storyline is different to what happened in my 'With Friends Like These' series. In this, BTR have their first CD out, but DE hasn't been adopted by Ronan. So, hopefully that doesn't confuse anyone. I'll update again soon.**

**Apart from this chapter and the prologue, chapters to this story aren't going to be shorter than 3000 words.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	3. Everything is not what it seems

**.:CHAPTER TWO – Everything Is Not What It Seems:.**

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><p>Riley let out a sigh as she grabbed onto her baby brother's hand and walked with him up the driveway to their house, anxiously wondering what was going to greet them on the other side. Would it be their father that was short tempered and wanted things done his way or suffer the consequences? Or would it be the man that acted like everything was fine, only to crack and start screaming and shouting later? They couldn't tell anymore, so they just went around, walking on egg-shells, just in case.<p>

Beside her, Riley felt Sydney grab her hand tighter and move into her side as she reached out to open the door. _He shouldn't be acting this way. _Riley thought to herself, shaking her head irritably. _He's fucking 10 years old and he gets scared at the sight of someone else's shadow. It's not healthy at all…but there's not much that I can do anyway._

She couldn't help but sigh contentedly as she opened the front door and was greeted with the sound of her twin, Rhuben, and her younger twin brothers, Patrick and Noah, shouting at the TV as they played a video game. Sydney immediately let go of Riley's hand and kicked off his shoes before running over and joining them. Riley sighed again as she closed the door behind her. If they were playing video games, that meant that her father was either just out or he was passed out on his bed after having drank too many beers. Considering they hadn't needed to go to the recording studio that day to work on their vocals (as their band the DarkElements) she had to guess that he was out drinking somewhere.

If she had to guess, right after her father had sent her off to get groceries and to pick up her baby brother, he went out to get a drink. But that was ok; it gave her time to meet up with some of her friends and to forget about everything that had been going on at home.

_And that's a blessing in disguise. _Riley thought to herself as she walked into the living room and plopped down onto the couch next to her twin. They'd hardly ever had friends. People they could talk with, or joke with. They always seemed to be on the move. When Robert first started to exploit their musical talent, it was shortly after he had adopted them and taken them from their home in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, to Texas. There Riley and Rhuben had met Logan, but then Robert moved them to LA to try and get big there. But after meeting their music producer Ronan, he thought that it would be better if they went back to Australia and started out their music career there.

And it worked. The DarkElements are now one of the most famous bands from Australia and famous half-way around the world, and because of that Robert tried to break them into the American music industry so he moved them to LA. But since they had a big fan base in Australia, every three months they flew back home to do concert and press junkets and stuff. Either way, it was Robert's pure greed and the Jacksons innocent love of music that kept them going. But even though they had good friends in Big Time Rush (Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James) and their friends from the Palm Woods (Jo Taylor, Stephanie King, Camille Roberts, Wally 'WayneWayne' Dooley, Dak Zevon, and his little sister Lizzie Zevon) there were still some things that they couldn't tell them about.

Such as their abuse by the hands of Robert.

And than there had been the bruises to explain . . . it just them always cautious.

_How long are we going to be able to stay here before someone finds out? _Riley thought to herself as she crossed her legs, wincing as her left arm was pulled against the couch, the fresh bruise stinging. _How long could we go without making Dad angry? How long can we keep the secret?_

They didn't want to think about what people would do if they found out. They knew from experience, the majority would think they were liars. Selfish, lying sons and daughters that had it in for their dad. But that wasn't what frightened them the most. Against her will, Riley felt old memories resurfacing…

Coming out of her daze, Riley realized that her cheeks were wet. What frightened her, and the others, the most about their secret, what absolutely terrified them, was the thought that someone would find out. . .

'_You aren't worth anything' her_ mind whispered the words hauntingly.

Their dad hurt them; he hit them, and yelled at them.

And they deserved it.

They didn't want anyone to find out how much they deserved it. Every now and then their dad was sweet and kind and funny. And then he would get back into his drinking and his greed and the anger and the hitting would start all over again.

"I know," Riley turned her head to the side and saw Rhuben looking back at her before she turned back to the TV. Her brothers had gone silent, showing her that they had noticed she was crying as well. "It sucks." She took in a deep breath. "But it will all get better soon."

_You aren't worth anything._

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><p><strong>AN: Ok, so….after THIS chapter, they won't be less than 3000 words. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as well. Although it focuses on Kiley, other pairings will be present. Things pick up from here. I'll update again soon.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	4. Memories I wish I didn't have

**.:CHAPTER THREE – Memories I wish I didn't have:.**

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><p>"What do you guys want to do?" Kendall asked as he stared at the Palm Woods Pool in utter boredom. He turned his head to the side and looked at Logan, Carlos, and James as they stared at the pool, the very same expression of boredom exhibited on their faces.<p>

"I don't know," Logan replied with a short shrug. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know," Carlos spoke up. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't-"

"Stop!" Katie cried as she walked over to the four boys, her hands over her ears. "Please, just stop!" She moved her hands from her ears and glared at the four of them. "I mean, come on! You're Big Time Rush, four of the most famous guys in California, and probably Minnesota, right now and you're getting bigger!" She threw her hands into the air. "And you just sit around here all day complaining and saying that you're _bored_? How can you be _bored_? This is _LA! _Hello!"

"Yes, but you're forgetting that in LA, the only way that you can get around is if you have a car," Logan reminded her patiently. "Which we do have, but have no one to drive with."

"Ugh," Katie slapped herself on the forehead. "Duh, genius, it's called getting your license." When the guys didn't move, Katie just rolled her eyes again. "You guys are seriously pathetic."

'_And there goes Katie, going off on her tangent about how dumb and annoying we are._' Kendall thought, smiling to himself. '_I can't help it that it's one of our only days off and we don't really have anything to do. I mean, we're always hanging out at the Palm Woods or the mall, and when we're not there we're at school or working on music. So there's not much that we can do before we get really bored._'

"So I was at the mall and I thought that a bunch of girls were following me because they recognized me," Dak Zevon commented as he walked through the doors of the Palm Woods pool and over to the four boys, his best friend Wally 'WayneWayne' Dooley and his little sister Lizzie following behind him. "But it turned out that they thought I was you." He pointed over at James and then looked down at him. "And why are you guys wasting time just sitting by the pool…like you normally do?"

"Because they're a bunch of idiots." Katie stated, the word now seeming to become her favorite adjective to describe the guys.

"Guys are always idiots," Lizzie replied as she pulled a piece of her braided hair behind her ear. "Did you _just_ figure that out?" She and Katie started to laugh as Dak rolled his eyes at his sister's antics.

"It's not like girls aren't confusing." WayneWayne jumped to Dak's, as well as the male populations', defense. "I mean, should we give you a gift on an anniversary when you tell us that you don't want something? Do you really mean it when you say you're not mad?" His eyes lit up. "Oh and this one is good too, how about when we make one little comment, when we're absolutely joking, and you somehow make it that we've insulted you beyond words?"

"As much as I'd like to have a battle of the sexes," Kendall got to his feet and stretched his back cracking. "I don't think you want Katie to glare at you like that for the rest of your life," He said and motioned over to Lizzie and Katie, who bore identical death glares on their faces. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that they were spending a lot of time with Rhuben."

"It wouldn't surprise me." Dak replied and then shielded his face. "God, he's sorry, just stop it with the eyes!" He cried as the other guys started laughing. "Dudes, let's go to the basketball court or something, sitting around a pool all day is just boring."

"Do whatever you want," Lizzie gave a smarmy smile. "Just know that whatever you do, we'll have more fun." She then turned and gave her brother a hug around the stomach. "See you later, bro." With that, she hooked her arm through Katie's and the two left the Palm Woods pool.

"Speaking of girls," WayneWayne turned to the other guys. "Where are Jo, Camille, and Stephanie?"

"I don't know," James frowned as he suddenly whipped a mirror out from his pocket and held it up as he moved his fingers through his hair. "Normally they would be over here commenting me on my hair and ruggedly-handsome good looks, but today," he put the mirror away. "Nothing."

"Are you sure you didn't dream it?" Logan asked in a condescending tone. "Because not every girl in the world is into you." Logan suddenly leaned back as James leaned closer to his face.

"That's what you think." He said in a low tone, his hazel eyes narrowing.

Kendall shook his head as he watched his friends' interactions with each other. Every now and then he wondered why he was friends with them and then he came to the same conclusion each and every time. They were too weird not to be friends with each other. James had an obsession with his looks and Kendall had to admit that from time to time James had helped keep from looking like a fool. Then there was Logan, obviously the smartest one out of all of them, he kept Kendall from failing and helped him on any set of homework or a project when he asked for it. It definitely helped keep him from getting a D in math when he was back in Minnesota. Carlos was the one that he probably enjoyed hanging out with the most, because he was so crazy and blurted out random things to do, which they usually ended up going along with, even when they think it's a bad idea at first. And then Kendall was the leader, the most level-headed, and the one that called all the shots. Together, it made the four of them inseparable.

But then there was Dak and WayneWayne. Dak was one of the first celebrities that the guys met when they got to LA and they were grateful for it as Dak knew what they were going through as he is a famous teen-icon or whatever. (No one really knew his 'title' anymore). Dak was a guy that seemed to be a mixture of all four of the guys and that's what Kendall liked about him, his personality made it easy to become friends with them. Then there was WayneWayne, Kendall and WayneWayne hated each other and first and from time they still exhibit feelings of discomfort around each other although they're 'semi-friends'. WayneWayne wanted to be in BTR at first, but then Kendall and the others kicked him out and humiliated him. He came back to apologize, Camille, who had known him for years, explained that he was being sincere, and became their friend too.

"Basketball sounds fun," Kendall mused as he rubbed a hand over his chin. "Besides, we need to give Bitters a break from seeing us," he smiled wickedly. "I'm tired of him glaring at us suspiciously each time we move through the lobby." His smile widened. "But let's make this a little more interesting-"

"I never like it when you say those words." Logan stated as his eyes narrowed slowly. "Usually they mean that you have an idea for a bet, which means that you'll get so competitive that-"

"What the bet?" Carlos interrupted, his eyes widened with eagerness. He even started to bounce up and down on his toes.

"Calm down, hyperness." Dak placed his hands on Carlos' shoulders and held him still. He then nodded over at Kendall. "Let the man finish talking."

"What do you have in mind for this bet?" WayneWayne asked, looking interested.

"How about this, the losing team has to…." Kendall looked around the pool, and at the people that were sitting by the pool and then grinned evilly as he turned back to the other guys. "The losing team has to streak the entire first and bottom floor of the apartment building. Bonus points if Bitters sees you."

"Deal!" Carlos immediately replied, bouncing up and down on his toes so hard and fast that Dak had to let go of him. "Let's go play now! This is going to be awesome!"

"Shirts vs. Skins?" James suggested and then grinned as he wiggled his eyebrows. "I'll be shirts of course."

"Please don't do that." WayneWayne stated with an odd expression on his face. "So how are we going to divide the rest of the teams?" He asked and his voice slowly trailed off. "Since Kendall and I can't be on the same team…"

That was definitely true, both boys got so competitive that if they were on the same team they would even steal the ball from each other. Logan has rationalized that unless they had absolutely no choice, WayneWayne and Kendall were never going to be on the same team.

"We'll figure it out," Logan stated as he waved a hand. "Let's just get a basketball and go play."

"They always have one in the ball shed at the Palm Woods Park, so we can just head over." Dak replied and then looked annoyed as Carlos burst out laughing. "Ok, the words 'ball shed' aren't that funny?" But Carlos continued to laugh.

Kendall rolled his eyes. "Come on." He led his friends out of the lobby and over to Palm Woods Park. '_I have to be on the shirts side, I didn't get a chance to grab mom's make-up earlier just in case. I don't want them to see my scars._'

_Kendall screamed as yet another blow rained down on his back. He tried to move, tried to get away from the man that had given him more scars and injuries than he could count. He tried to struggle but it was a half- hearted effort since he knew it would just be worse if he did. Besides he knew he would never get away from his father. He would be there for the rest of his life, hanging over his shoulder reminding him of what he was. He decided to deal with it though, just to make sure that his mother and his sister were safe. He would do anything to make sure that they didn't get hurt as badly as he did._

_Kendall had stopped screaming by now, knowing that it wouldn't accomplish anything. Actually it would do something, Kevin seemed to like it when he screamed, and he would go on beating his son longer. He would beat him until his back was a bloody mess, then he would have to explain to his friends the next day why he couldn't sit back in the chair. But it was just another lie. He didn't feel like using one the next day so he stopped yelling. Besides if anyone suspected anything he knew he wouldn't be able to deny it if they asked. Well, Logan was already starting to become suspicious, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to tell or something would happen to his mother and sister. Either way, he lost, his mother and sister were at stake and he'd be damned if something happened to the two of them._

_He was tired of denying it, tired of all of the lies. The abuse would never end albeit it physical or mental. He had tried to get away once before, resulting in one of the worst beatings of his life. He couldn't walk for a week, and even after the scares still remained. Kendall had just told his mom that he had gotten hit really hard when he was playing ice hockey with his friends and she believed that. It kept him from going to school for a while, keeping him away from the constant questions from his friends, keeping him away from the guilt of keeping the secret from everybody. Even now when he looked at the scars it caused him to wince with guilt…_

"Yo, K-Dawg, are you ok?" WayneWayne asked, bringing Kendall back to reality as he was constantly snapping his fingers in front of Kendall's face, waiting for a response. Kendall blinked and then looked irritated, pushing WayneWayne's hand away from his face as Logan chest-passed him the basketball he had found.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He bounced the ball over to Dak and moved to cover him. "Let's play."

Even Kendall knew that those were some of the words that told the biggest lie.

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><p><strong>AN: Wow, I'm having trouble making chapters 3000 words, hmm; maybe I just have to get back into the flow of writing. I'm sure the next chapter will be that much. I think my problem is that here I have too much time on my hands and keep putting off updating, while at college, I don't have a lot of time and during the free time I have, I enjoy writing. That must be it. So sorry that this chapter is shorter than the others again. The next chapter will have Jo, Camille, and Stephanie, for those who are waiting for them, as well as show a bit of the other relationships in this story as well as Gustavo, Kelly, Robert, and Ronan appearing. Anyway, I have a question for you guys. 1. What would you like to see as this story goes on? 2. Would you rather that I keep this story in third person, or put it in 1****st**** person from Kendall's and Riley's POVs? Let me know. I hope you guys liked this chapter and I'll update again soon.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	5. We're a bunch of weirdoes

**.:CHAPTER FOUR – We're a bunch of weirdoes, didn't you know?:.**

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><p>"Ok, so what I need you guys to work on is-" Ronan McGuire's eyebrows rose as he watched a sheet of paper rhythmically move up and down in front of his face. "Why is there a sheet of paper hovering in my face?" He lowered his clipboard and tilted his head down to look at Patrick, who was grinning back at him. "What is this?" he took the sheet of paper.<p>

"It's my essay," Patrick replied, his eyes shining. "And look," he jabbed a finger at it. "I got an A!"

"Way to go," Ronan grinned and handed it back to him as he walked over to the corner of the dance studio and sat down, resting his back against the wall behind him. "Did you show your dad?"

"We're home-schooled Ronan," Rhuben reminded him, giving him an odd look, leaning over to stretch her hamstring. "Dad is the one that grades us."

"Oh yeah." Ronan laughed as he scratched his forehead. "I forgot."

"Obviously." Riley snorted. Ronan made a face at her and she mimicked the same expression before laughing to herself.

"Don't change the subject," Ronan waved his clipboard at the Jacksons, a mock-stern expression on his face. "You guys really need to get this down pat if you want to be able to perform it at your next concert which is on," he took his phone from his pocket and looked it over. "Two weeks and, to be perfectly honest, you're progressing slower than you usually do."

"We'll work harder," Sydney got to his feet and clapped his hands together before wiping them on the seat of his sweat pants. He flashed a smile, his dimples indenting his cheeks. "Promise." His eyebrows twitched when Ronan continued to stare at him. "What?"

"What happened to the side of your head?" Ronan asked after a minute.

Noah bit his lower lip and looked up through the fringe of his hair as he watched his baby brother's reaction. _Come on Syd, I know you hate lying and basically can't do it without breaking down in the next half a second, but you can't open your mouth and blab now._ He urged his brother to keep quiet, looking at him through the mirror. Sydney nodded back ever so slightly and gave a wide smile as he used both hands to shove his hair from his face.

"I ran into a wall," He replied brightly with a hint of laughter in his voice. "I took Patrick's cell phone and he chased me around, I turned a corner too sharply." He started to bounce on his toes. "It's a funny story really-"

"I'm sure we don't have time to hear it, Syd." Rhuben commented as she walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly.

Sydney nodded and fell silent.

Ronan let out a sigh and moved his head forward so his forehead rested on his knees. He wasn't sure what to say. There were so many things that he needed to address but there also wasn't a way that he could think of bringing it up. He really needed to talk to them about their music and help them get prepared for their upcoming concert, and that was what he really needed to focus on. But then…there was that tiny part of him that was asking him, no tell him to ask what he wanted to know. It was the 'father figure' part of him, as he had worked with the Jacksons for years and had watched them grow up so there were times where he felt that he needed to guide them in some way.

It was always very frustrating.

But there wasn't much he could do about it.

"Before your dad gets here and runs you into the ground," Ronan sounded sarcastic as he looked at his watch before regarding his clipboard again. "How about you guys start off with…Disconnected (Out of Touch)?"

"Aye, Aye, sir." Patrick replied as he and Noah gave a mock salute.

* * *

><p>"James?" Katie looked at the hazel-eyed boy as she placed her hands on her hips, looking annoyed.<p>

"What?" He replied tonelessly and after a few seconds. If it wasn't for the fact that he replied, Katie would have thought that he was dead to the world.

"Have you seen my phone?" She asked, continuing to look around.

James adopted an expression on his face that was of innocence, but at the same time it caused Katie to wonder if he really did know what happened to her phone. But from the charming smile that he was giving her, it was also really hard to distinguish. "Phone? What phone?" he asked, reaching over and picking up a nearby magazine, loudly flipping through the pages.

"_My_ phone!" Katie stressed firmly.

"What's it look like?" James replied, blinking up at her.

"You _know_ what it looks like."

"Is it purple with a 'Hello Kitty' theme?" He continued to keep up his charade, knowing that it was starting to get on her nerves.

"James! Have you seen my phone?" she exploded.

Beside him on the couch, Logan, Carlos, and Kendall burst out laughing at Katie's frustration with him. Usually she didn't get this worked up over her phone being missing, she just stopped looking it would be there, but now, because she had the suspicion that someone had taken it, and because she had to listen to the four boys while her mother was out getting food, it just made her frustration grow quickly.

"Katie, calm down." Kendall chided his little sister, leaning out of the way as she grabbed a pillow from the couch and went to hit him with it.

Katie sighed heavily and turned away from James, over to Logan and Carlos. "Logan?" she asked as sweetly as possible. Kendall laughed as James pouted and slid down in his seat. He always had a feeling that Katie had a soft spot for Logan, but when asked about any of the boys, she would just snort and change the subject.

"What?" Logan replied, just as polite.

Katie sighed, knowing that he was probably not going to be able to help her, but wanted to try anyway. "Have you seen my phone?"

"What phone?" Logan's lips curled into a teasing smile as Katie glared at him as well. "Oh come on, Katie. I never pegged you to be the type of girl that has to have her phone on her at all times." His teasing smile grew wider. "It's not like you can't go a day without a text from Patrick or Noah…or even worse Dak."

Katie crossed her arms over her chest, her cheeks blooming a bright red as the four boys started to make kissing sounds and cat-calls, further embarrassing the girl. Kendall chuckled as he teased his sister.

_It was bound to happen sooner or later _He reasoned to himself. _That she would become interested in boys, and I would rather her date someone that I know won't hurt her than someone that she would have to bring home for me to meet. _He started to frown a little. _I just hope that she doesn't get too caught up in it._

"Guys!" Katie stomped her foot again, trying to get their attention. "I need my phone!" _Ugh, sometimes I get tired of being around these idiots all the time. _She rolled her eyes. _Especially when they're making fun of me for no reason._

"Do we have anything to eat?" Carlos asked suddenly, to Katie's joy, changing the subject.

"Donuts, I think." Kendall replied lazily, draping an arm over his eyes. "Mom should be back from the store soon." He lifted his watch over his head. "She should be back soon, by the way." He frowned. "She's running kinda late?"

"Where are those so-called donuts?" Carlos asked.

"Well, you see the thing is…" James started off slowly, putting down his magazine. "That I sort of ate most of them, so there are only those nasty glazed ones left."

"You only left glazed?" Carlos' eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "What's wrong with you?"

"Well how am I to be expected to go for a disgusting glazed donut when there's a blueberry filled one staring at me?" James replied, throwing his hands into the air. "Or raspberry? Ooooh—or chocolate custard? That one was the best!" He licked his lips.

"There was chocolate custard?" Carlos gritted his teeth together.

"How many donuts did you eat?" Logan broke in, giving his muscular friend a raised eyebrow. "I thought you were the one that freaked out every time someone brought home junk food?"

James turned to Logan and gave him a fake glare. "You trying to say I _need _to lose weight?"

"Oh my god!" Katie burst out loudly, grabbing on the ends of her hair. "You guys are so _weird_!"

"I thought I was the only one that thought that." Katie and the boys turned around to see Jo Taylor, Stephanie King, and Camille Roberts stand in the doorway to the apartment, laughing to themselves. "I knocked, but apparently you guys didn't hear me." Jo continued to laugh a little as she pulled her hair behind her ears. "Hey guys." She gave each boy a smile, her eyes resting on Kendall a little longer.

"Hey girls." Carlos gave an enthusiastic wave back at them.

"Hey Carlos." Camille laughed back. "What were you guys yelling about?"

"It doesn't really matter…" Katie trailed off as she looked under the couch, spotting something familiar to her. "Aha!" She dove to her knees and shoved Logan's legs aside, grabbing her phone. She stood up and whacked Logan on the back of the head. "I _knew_ you had it!"

"Ouch!" Logan rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't take your phone," he elbowed James in the side. "James did!"

"Did not!"

"And I often wonder how the Palm Woods was ever quiet when you guys weren't around." Camille commented as she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Dak and WayneWayne are working today so they couldn't hang out." She explained why the girls were there, even when she didn't need to. "And we were bored so we decided to come over and see what you guys were doing."

"What? Are we your endless source of entertainment?" Kendall asked, sounding the least bit offended.

"Pretty much." Stephanie replied, taking out her video camera and taping Katie as she continued to hit James over the head.

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble," Logan stood up and stretched. "But we're not really doing anything interesting either."

"Oh it's no problem," Camille replied quickly, giving a warm smile. "Just hanging with you guys is fun, even if we don't do anything." Her smile grew wider as Logan smiled back at her. Jo elbowed her in the side, giggling a little, before clearing her throat.

"So what do you guys want to do?" She asked.

"Well," Carlos rubbed his chin as he thought about it. "We don't have to go into work today so…" He jumped to his feet, slapped his helmet twice, and grinned. "Why don't we go and visit the Jacksons at their studio?" He suggested. "I mean, they're always coming over to us when they're done for the day, why don't we visit them?"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Logan stated as he frowned. "I mean, they've never invited us over before-"

"And we've never invited them over to us, but that hasn't stopped them." Kendall added.

"Oh please," James rolled his eyes. "You can't tell me that you haven't enjoyed the attention that Riley has given you." He missed Jo's frown as Kendall rolled his eyes and shoved him on the arm.

"Unlike you, who just likes attention from girls in general?" Kendall shot back with a grin.

"I still don't think it's a good idea," Logan continued to worry, lightly chewing his lower lip. "I mean, if they wanted us over they would have invited us, and with the whole thing about them coming over-"

"Oh just calm down, Logan." Stephanie snapped her video camera shut and crossed her arms over her chest. "They're our friends, so if they can't hang for a minute, we'll just watch."

"Mhm," Katie nodded in agreement. "Besides, we've never seen them practice a new routine from scratch before and I don't know about you guys, but I would like to be able to see it before one of their concerts for once in my life."

"I have to agree," Jo replied after a minute of silence, her smile finally returning to her face. "Just one problem, how are we going to get there? It's like, on the other side of the city."

"Girls, girls, girls," James walked over to Jo and Camille and put his arms around their shoulders as he grinned. "You underestimate the power of us being a boy-band," he nodded at his friends. "There's nothing a little bit of charm can't get us."

"Really?" Now it was Kendall's turn to look skeptical.

"Really," James confirmed with a nod and a wink. "Trust me."

"Famous last words." Carlos joked.

"My thoughts exactly." Katie replied.

* * *

><p>"Syd, sing along with the scale, I need to test your vocals since you've been complaining of a scratchy throat recently" Patrick instructed as he held his acoustic guitar out in front of him. They were taking a small break from their rehearsal that day and while Ronan went to answer an important phone call, the Jacksons were going over their vocals as they took a short break from dancing.<p>

"All right," Sydney nodded and took a swig of water. "La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, laaaaaaa" he sang as Patrick slowly picked out the notes.

"Open your mouth" Noah commanded. Sydney made a face and then opened his mouth wide, sticking his tongue out. Noah clapped a hand over Sydney's mouth, popping something inside. "A throat lozenge," he explained. "Just in case you're getting a sore throat, normally you can reach the high notes easier."

"Got it" Sydney gave a thumbs up.

"I wonder why dad's not here yet." Rhuben commented from where she and Riley were lying on their backs on the floor, towels over their faces. "Usually he's storming in here like a battering ram by now."

"Knock on wood." Riley added and lightly knocked against the ground.

The five of them jumped and whirled to face the door as it was suddenly kicked in, then visibly relaxed when they saw that it was Kendall, Logan, Carlos, James, Katie, Jo, Camille, and Stephanie, and then a second later, tensed up again.

"What are you doing here?" Patrick asked, his eyes flying wide open, dropping his guitar to the ground with a loud thud.

"We just came by to see how your guys' rehearsal was doing." Katie replied with a warm smile as she walked over to Patrick, giving a short wave. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, though. "I hope you didn't break your guitar."

"What guitar?" he replied, his eyes quickly shifting to the door.

"It was nice of you guys coming by to watch, but it's actually going to be pretty boring here," Riley sat up, her towel falling into her lap, before she pushed herself to her feet. "_Very_ boring. So you should just…leave."

"Are you trying to get rid of us?" Kendall asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Riley raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to be subtle?" she shot back, immediately knowing that he was referencing to their conversation a couple of days before.

"Yes."

"Then yes."

"Oh come on Beautiful," James looked at Riley. "And Beautiful," he looked at Rhuben. "Can't we just watch you guys rehearse a little?" He gave a charming smile. "It will kind of be like us supporting you, how you're always supporting and helping us at Rocque Records."

_Yeah, but the only reason that we go over there is so we can get away from Dad _Noah thought to himself, knowing that it would be stupid if he ever said it out loud.

"Yeah, please?" Carlos stuck out his lower lip in a pout. He then elbowed Stephanie in the side and she looked at him for a second and then pouted as well.

"Yeah, please?" she repeated.

"Hold on just a second," Rhuben waved her arms and her siblings huddled around her as she lowered her voice. "This is going to blow up in our faces if dad comes in."

"If you hadn't said it and jinxed us, we wouldn't have to worry about that." Patrick reminded her in a harsh whisper.

"Belt up!" Rhuben snapped back.

"What do you think we should do, Riles?" Noah asked, turning to his oldest siblings.

"Why ask me?" Riley looked irritated.

"You're the leader, that's why," Sydney replied as if it was obvious. "We may not like that half the time, but someone has to be, and you're so bossy as it is, you might as well think up a lie to get them out of here without their feelings getting hurt and without us getting caught."

"Too late," Riley replied as she stood up straight, noticing her father in the doorway, glaring at them. "Hey dad." She gave a weak wave.

"Hi Mr. Jackson." Camille gave a small smile, taking a step back. She couldn't explain it, but something about him made her intimidated by him whenever he came into the room. She could tell from the way that her friends backed up that they were thinking the same thing.

"What are you friends doing here?" Robert kept his eyes on his sons and daughters. "I thought I told you that your rehearsal was closed today and that you couldn't have any visitors."

"It was our fault," Logan jumped in, holding out an arm, waving Katie over to his side. She quickly scurried back over to them. "We just stopped by to say hey."

"Well, I'm sorry but they're very busy, so you're going to have to leave now."

"We're going." James squeaked and grabbed Camille's arm and pulled her out of the dance studio as the others shoved their way out behind him. They all winced when the door slammed shut, and moved over to the glass window that let them look into the dance studio.

"Am I the only one that thinks that something is weird about him?" Stephanie asked, rubbing her arms. "He gives me the chills."

"Nope." Was the unanimous reply.

"Am I the only one that thinks that they're hiding something?" Kendall asked quietly, but still loud enough for the other to hear. He shrugged at the silence in reply. "I don't know, just a feeling."

"Well that's the thing about friendships," Jo stated as she gently placed a hand on Kendall's arm, tilting her head slightly. "We can talk about anything but we won't tell each other everything."

"She's got a point." Logan agreed with a shrug of his shoulders. He looked at Robert as he watched his kids move across the floor, working as hard as they could. Robert had a frown on his lips and he seemed to be glaring at his kids. "But with them, I wonder what it is they're not telling us."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oops, next chapter has Gustavo, Kelly, Robert, and Kacy. And don't worry, Jo isn't going to be a boy-stealing bitch in this story, I just think that it was a good idea to have some sort of a love 'v' somewhere in one of my stories. Now for the other pairings, I have a REALLY good idea for Carphanie as well as jealousy with some of the other characters.**

**And of course, the really big piece of drama with the Jacksons as well as with Kendall, which you guys already know since I've hinted at it in the last chapter. Now what I really need help with is what should I do for some drama with Katie…a little help? Thanks in advance!**

**I decided to make it about both Kendall and Riley, so the next chapter is mostly about Riley, but of course it has the others too, like this chapter did. So sorry it took so long to get put up. I hope you guys enjoyed it.**

**What else would you guys like to see in this story?**

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	6. When a serious talk is necessary

**.:CHAPTER FIVE – When a serious talk is necessary:.**

* * *

><p>"Whew," Patrick sighed as he wiped his forehead, watching as his father left the dance studio without looking back at them. "Dodged a bullet on that one." He remarked, looking at his watch.<p>

"Yeah, you know, just because Ronan was here." Noah added, quietly enough so that their music producer, who was gathering his stuff in the corner of her room didn't hear him. Patrick just shrugged, turning away so Noah didn't see the anxious expression on his face.

"You guys did a great job today," Ronan commented as he finally got everything together. "Of course." He added, seeing the looks on his clients' faces. He then sighed. "Your dad just wants to make sure that you're ready for your concert as its coming up really fast, but trust me, you all are doing a great job." He looked at his watch. "So great that I'm letting you all go early today so you can hang out with your friends."

"We'll hang out with them later," Rhuben denied, shaking her head. "Maybe tomorrow, we don't have to be around them all the time, you know."

Ronan just looked at her and nodded. _I know that you're scared because your dad may come around and take your home or beat you all in public, but you don't have to worry about it, not today. I just wish that you could tell me the truth, that everything is OK, so I wouldn't have to worry about you guys so much. _Ronan pinched the bridge of his nose as he let out a pent-up sigh. _But I know that you're not going to do that, you're not going to do anything to jeopardize your lives by making him mad. So I guess I just have to keep pretending that I don't know what's going on._

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but hanging out with your friends and being a teenager is good thing." Ronan pointed out. "At least, that's what I was aware of when I was a teenager."

"Yet, you're old now so you don't know how things work anymore," Riley remarked and then smirked as Ronan shot her a look, knowing she was joking. "We just want to take some time to rest, and you know the guys, they get into so much trouble and chaos that we can't help but get sucked into." She rolled her eyes. "And I'd rather have peace and quiet today."

"If you say so," Ronan shrugged, as if the matter was closed. "I'll see you guys later."

"Bye." Sydney waved and grabbed his gym bag and led his brothers and sisters out of the dance studio and out in the bright light of Los Angeles. "That was close." He remarked. "You know, with Kendall and everybody."

"We know Syd," Rhuben reminded him gently. "We were there." She stopped walking, her hands tightening on the strap of her book bag. "You don't think that they came by just to see if there was anything…_wrong_ do you?"

"What gives you that idea?" Noah scratched his neck, right behind his ear. "It seemed to me that they just came over to hang out."

"Yeah, but they know that we don't allow visitors over due to it being a 'distraction'." Riley commented as she used air-quotes around the words. She then let out a huff of air that blew her red strand of hair out of her blue eyes, which were now narrowed. "No, I think it was something else."

"What are you thinking?" Patrick asked, noticing the expression on her face. "I can almost see the gears turning in your head." He paused. "You think that they know?" he guessed. Riley slid her eyes over to him and nodded. "But that's impossible!" he blurted. "It's too hard to figure out, we've been too careful."

"Yeah, because the way you dropped your guitar on the ground and gaped like a fish was careful." Rhuben shot back, rolling her eyes. Her hands were twitching at her sides and she looked around at everyone that passed them with a suspicious expression. "So what are we going to do?" She asked Riley.

Riley ran a hand through her hair and placed a finger on her chin as she looked around the busy streets. She shielded her face as the glare from a passing car landed on them. The others were silent as they waited for an answer. "The only things we can do," she finally said.

"Which are?" Sydney prompted.

"Staying away from our friends as much as possible, but by still being normal," Riley replied slowly. "Like, push them away a little, but not so much that they notice that something is going on, it will keep us cool for a while and that way we can assess if they really do know what's going on?"

"Is that a good idea though?" Noah looked troubled. "What if we lose them as our friends?"

"Better than losing our lives." Riley insisted. "We're just going to lay low for a while, not for forever. And with our luck, they won't even notice."

"Not sure if you're aware of it," Patrick pursed his lips. "But we usually have bad luck."

"Meh," Riley waved a hand in the air. "First things first," she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and waved it around. "We have to remind our friends that it's important that they don't come by when we're working." She paused. "For their safety and for ours." She then started to type on her phone. "And since I'm _sure_ Kendall was behind this, I'll make sure he gets the message _loud and clear_."

"You're going to yell at him aren't you?" Rhuben asked, smirking.

"If I have to."

**Riley: Meet me at Palm Woods Park, its important**

**Kendall: I'll be there in 10**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Alright, so the next chapter has to do with the adults and it will be longer. I know there really wasn't much of Riley of her family in this chapter but I had a hard time writing this chapter for a while and this is really all that I could come up with since I didn't want you guys to wait much longer. So the next chapter I will make it longer to make it up for you guys. And the drama and everything starts in the next chapter as well. The story will pick up soon. Sorry you guys had to wait a while, but I hoped you enjoyed it anyway. I'll update again soon.**


	7. You're a killjoy

.:**CHAPTER SIX – You're a killjoy:.**

* * *

><p>Kendall tried not to smile as he walked over to Riley. Actually, he tried not to laugh. The way that she was pacing back and forth; one hand on her forehead, the other on her hip, and talking to herself as she stomped across the ground. It was always so comical to him, to see how annoyed she got and what she would do if you pushed her past the point of no return. To be honest, more than half of the time he annoyed her, he did it on purpose, just to get a source of entertainment out of it.<p>

The other times he annoyed her it was purely by accident, he would get so frustrated that he couldn't tell her how he felt about her (it wasn't a secret to anyone else as he would try to get advice from them about it) that he would let the frustration get the better of him and do or say something stupid to make her mad. But then again, it was Riley, and the fact that it was raining when it was supposed to be sunny could make her mad.

"Hey," Kendall called, getting her attention as he lessened the gap between then. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and waved it around. "I got your message, what's up?"

"Was it your idea to come down to the studio?" Riley turned to him; her blue eyes now a shade of navy as she glared at him.

Kendall stopped, mid-stride, and blinked at her, his green eyes showing his confusion. "I'm fine, how are you?" He replied, moving his phone back into his pocket, trying to stall for time.

"I'm not joking, Hockey-Head," Riley snarled, obviously having trouble keeping her anger in check. "It's a simple yes-or-no question. Did you or did you not give the others the idea of coming down to the studio?" She said each word carefully and putting a bite on them.

"No," Kendall shook his head, his blonde fringe covering his face. "But I _did_ agree with the idea." Riley made a sound as she stomped her foot on the ground, running her hand over her face. "I mean, I know that you guys don't want us around-"

"It's not that we don't want you around," Riley interrupted swiftly. "It's that you guys are distracting and we can't have distractions while we're working." Her hands slowly started to shake at her sides. _Wow, this is harder to say that I thought it was going to be. _She thought to herself as she rolled her eyes. _He apparently isn't getting the hint, so I'm just going to have to be blunt like usual. _"And since our concert is coming up so soon and we have so much other stuff that we have to get ready for, it would probably be a good idea if you guys didn't…" She blew her hair off of her forehead with an annoyed huff as she tried to think of the word to say.

"If we didn't," Kendall waved a hand, urging her to continue. At her silence, he let out a short laugh. "It's not like you're telling us to stay away from you guys or something." Riley looked over at him, staying silent, and he started to laugh again, this time out of nervousness. "You're joking right?"

"We're just going to be busy for a while," Riley started to rub her left arm, her eyes darting around before she looked at her watch.

"For whatever reason," Kendall licked his lips as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And it may just be because I know you," he scratched his forehead. "But for whatever reason, I'm not buying it." He then looked down as Riley started to rub her arm faster and made a face. "Aren't you a little warm in that jacket?"

"I'm fine!" Riley snapped back. She looked at her watch and gave a one-armed shrug. "I have to go." She turned to walk away.

"Wait, wait, wait," Kendall grabbed onto her arm and turned her back around, briefly noticing her wince as he did so. His heart was starting to beat faster. _She can't mean any of this, I can tell. Something's wrong, I've seen her irrational before, but this is crazy. _"Can't we talk about this?"

"I have to go home," Riley pulled her arm out of his grasp, lightly pushing the sleeves to her jackets up her arms as she started to walk away, not looking over her shoulder. "I need to make dinner."

"It's only 3:30." Kendall started to walk after her, lengthening his stride so he could keep up with her.

"It's an early dinner." Riley replied shortly, swinging her arms faster.

"I-I could walk you back," Kendall offered.

Riley stopped walking again and turned to face him. Kendall's eyes narrowed when he saw two different emotions flash over her face before it went stoic; fear and annoyance. "It's too far for you to go both ways," She took one step and then looked at him again. "Leave me alone, Kendall."

She turned back and left the Palm Woods Park, dialing her cell as she went. "Hey, Pat, did you tell them?" She asked, after he picked up.

"Yeah," Patrick replied, sounding a little subdued. "Katie and Lizzie understood, something about wanting to be managers to bands, bands being busy." He paused. "But Jo, Camille, and Steph sounded sad. The other guys sounded confused too."

"Yeah, they'll get over it soon." Riley replied.

"Riles, what'd you do?"

"Nothing!"

"You didn't yell at him did you?"

Riley couldn't help but laugh a little. "You know how people always say that you should leave your baggage at the door?"

"Yeah?"

"I should really start listening to that."

* * *

><p>"Look into the crystal ball." Gustavo Rocque said in a deep voice as he sat at his desk, moving his hands over a fishbowl that was sitting on his desk. He was staring intently into it, but had looked up, speaking to his semi-friend Ronan McGuire<p>

"That's just a fishbowl you turned upside down." Ronan point out as he loosened his tie. He turned to Gustavo's assistant, Kelly Wainright, and winked at her, letting her know that he was purposefully trying to get on his nerves. Kelly just laughed and went back to her palm pilot as she shook her head at the two grown men's antics.

"But with a little magic, I turned it into a crystal ball!" Gustavo declared.

"It still looks like a fishbowl." Ronan replied.

Gustavo sighed loudly and lifted his head, glaring at the other man. "You know McGuire, you're a killjoy."

Ronan sighed, debating whether or not he should continue this idiotic conversation, but Robert Jackson, his boss and the man that they were waiting for, was late and he was bored. Common sense went out the window. "How am I a killjoy?" Ronan asked dryly.

"You kill my joy."

"Obviously."

Gustavo turned the fishbowl right side up and held it in his hands, a cracking sound emitting from the glass bowl. "Whenever I do something epically awesome and insanely fun-"

"It's only epically awesome and insanely fun in your head Gustavo. In reality it's really stupid." Kelly cut in and looked at her palm pilot. She slapped it against her thigh as she turned to Ronan. "When's Robert going to get here, we need to have this meeting soon or I'm going to be late to my hair appointment."

"He knows that this is an important meeting," Ronan replied as calmly as he could, despite the irritation he was feeling. "And why he called it in Gustavo's office, I don't know, but he wouldn't have made it if it wasn't something that we all needed to know about."

"If you say so," Gustavo grunted. "I give him ten minutes, and then I'm going on a rampage." It was common knowledge that while Rona and Gustavo annoyed each other Robert and Gustavo absolutely _hated_ each other. But no one really knew why, the two men wouldn't talk about it, all anyone knew was that basically as soon as they met, they hated each other and were constantly trying to outdo each other.

It might have been their power in the companies that they worked at, while Robert was the manager of the DarkElements, Gustavo was only a music producer for BTR and (more often than not) treated unfairly by his boss and CEO of Rocque Records Arthur Griffin. It was probably the same reason why Ronan and Gustavo, somewhat, got along, the fact that they both worked under men that intimidated them.

"I wouldn't put it past you," Kelly reasoned, trying to keep her assistant as calm as possible, lest there be another earthquake in the state that caused a panic as well as the fact that she would have to deal with his sky-rocketed blood pressure levels.

"Sorry I'm late," Robert stated in his gruff voice as he walked into the office. The leather jacket he was wearing just caused him to look even more intimidating and impatient as he did before. He looked at his watch. "Well, we don't have much time left before my reservation, so I might as well get to the point." He turned to Gustavo. "We, as in the DarkElements, are no longer going to help or need help from BTR. Thanks." He gave a peace sign and turned on his heel.

"What?" Gustavo and Kelly shouted in unison.

"Wait," Ronan jumped after Robert and grabbed onto his arm. "Wait, wait, wait, you're just going to stop something that's been working for Big Time Rush's first CD as well as the rise in popularity that you're band is getting?"

"They were fine on their own before and they're going to be fine now," Robert replied calmly, pushing Ronan's hand off of his arm. He turned and stared Ronan down, his grey eyes boring into Ronan's green ones with such intensity that Ronan had to look away. "My kids are getting distracted and I've had to deal with them more than I want to for the past couple of days and I know that it's because of the boys." He then raised his voice and looked at Gustavo and Kelly. "The three of us can still work together, but I don't want my kids to have any contact with your 'dogs'." He used air quotes. "For a while. They just need to focus all of their attention on their own thing instead of helping you all the time."

"Wait, you just can't-"Kelly immediately clammed up as Robert turned his cool gaze to her.

"Griffin agrees with me," Robert interrupted and then his lips curled into a sinister smile. "So if you have any problems, you should just ask him." He lifted the collar on his leather jacket. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be."

Gustavo, Ronan, and Kelly watched in stunned silence as Robert walked out of the office with heavy footsteps echoing down the hallway.

"Meany, Jerk-face, butt-head!" Gustavo shouted after a few moment of silence, causing Kelly and Ronan to jump.

Kelly turned and gave Gustavo the stink-eye, her palm pilot in her hand, small cracking sounds emitting from the machine that was now in danger of being thrown out the window or crushed in her fist. "Really? I figured you'd just say that he was a kill-joy." She tossed at him, sarcastically.

"That's what I was going to say," Ronan spoke up. "But I'm thinking something that's a lot less nice." He leaned over as he still listened. "But I'm still afraid of shouting it, just in case he can still hear me, and he's so scary, I wouldn't put it past him."

"So why do you put up with him?" Kelly asked, bringing up the same thing that many people asked him when they saw how Robert treated him.

"I get asked that question a lot Kelly," Ronan replied as he rubbed his forehead. "And I always give the same answer," He turned to Kelly and Gustavo. "I'm not sure." He looked away from the two of them. _But I am sure that the real reason why, I can't tell you, or Riley and Rhuben will kill me…as long as Robert doesn't kill them first._

* * *

><p>"So do you believe that Patrick and Noah don't want us hanging around anymore?" Lizzie asked as she took a bowl of popcorn and walked over to her bed, flopping down on it, jostling Katie in the process. She handed Katie the bowl.<p>

"They said that they're busy," Katie replied with a shrug before digging her hand into the bowl and bringing out a handful of the junk food. "I believe it," she stuck a piece in her mouth. "I mean, Kendall and the guys are busy all the time because of their music, but Pat, No and them, they're famous back in Australia, New Zealand, and Europe, they have a lot of stuff to do."

"I think you're missing the big picture here, Kates," Lizzie stated as she stared hard at her friend. "They're hiding something."

"They're guys," Katie pointed out with a small eye roll. "They can't hide much that we girls can't figure out just by looking at them." She stuck another piece of popcorn into her mouth and looked thoughtful. "Well, that's not really true; ever since I met them they've always seemed to have this other life that I don't know about."

"Uh, that's kind of the point girlfriend," Lizzie rolled off of her bed and walked over to her closet, pulling open the door. "Even though we're best friends we don't tell each other everything, for example," she reached into the closet and pulled out a purple tank-top. "I didn't tell you that I took your shirt." She tossed it over to Katie, who stared at her in bewilderment. Lizzie laughed as she turned back to her friend. "I also haven't told you that sometimes I wish I wasn't at the dance academy." She shrugged. "Then again, I haven't told Dak or mom or dad that either."

"So why tell me?" Katie asked, bunching up her shirt and lightly tossing it aside.

"Duh," Lizzie jumped onto her bed again. "Because you're my best friend."

"Oh really," Katie chuckled to herself, making herself comfortable as she leaned back against the headboard of Lizzie's bed. "What else haven't you told me, best friend?"

"Hmmm," Lizzie tapped her chin as she thought about it. "Well, I haven't told you that I've gone on a _semi-_date with Patrick and Noah last week." She said as she pulled out her phone and started to look through it, missing Katie's expression of shock, jealousy, and hurt. "We didn't really do much, Patrick and I just hung out at the park one day and Noah and I hung out at the beach another day." She flipped her brown hair out of her eyes. "I don't really know which one I like better though."

"Uh-huh," Katie replied, running her tongue along her teeth, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Lizzie noticed the odd tension in the air and then looked up at Katie with wide eyes. "That doesn't bother you does it? I mean," she sat up, moving the popcorn bowl to the floor. "I know that the two of them are your best friends and everything."

"Nah," Katie shook her head. "It doesn't bother me at all."

"Really?" Lizzie asked to make sure.

"Really," Katie tried to sound convincing. "Its fine, I don't mind."

Lizzie eyed Katie carefully. "You're not still hung up on my brother are you?" She asked. "I mean, it's cool if you are," she rolled her eyes. "I'm used to almost every girls falling all over him," she put a hand beside her mouth. "But between you and me, he doesn't look at any of them the same way that he looks at Rhuben. I swear he'd even jump in front of a bus for her."

"No," Katie shook her head so fast that her ponytail hit her in the face. "No, I don't still like Dak." She wrinkled her nose. "That's gross anyway, me and the best-friend's brother."

"You weren't so grossed out by it before we met." Lizzie reminded her.

"But it's like you said," Katie defended herself. "That was before we met." She cleared her throat. "Anyway, you don't want Logan to hear you say that, he's so protective and defensive towards Riley and Rhuben, it's like he's their brother rather than best friend."

"Cool beans," Lizzie popped to her feet and started to jump up and down. "So what do you want to do besides gorge on popcorn and other fattening food?" She gasped loudly and then on the next jump, dropped to her knees. "I know, let's do each other's nails and then go play soccer on the beach."

Katie couldn't help but tilt her head back and laugh out loud at her friend. "How can you like being clean one minute and want to roll around the mud the next?"

"That's what you get for being best friends with a girl who is girly and can be a tomboy." Lizzie replied with a wink. "Best part is that the guys can't resist it."

Katie slowly nodded in reply. _I guess so._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And there you go, a longer chapter and the drama has started. I hope that you guys liked it and I will update again soon. I finally got my idea for Katie and I've shown a little bit about it in this chapter. The part that I wrote between Ronan and Gustavo cracked me up as well as the part with Robert creeped me out. Now, the only thing I'm having a lot of trouble with is deciding on Lella, Della, or Jella as a pairing for this story, because in any case we have done all three pairs, I just don't know which one to stick with for this one, so your guys' feedback will be helpful.**

**Alright, so I wanted to get the main point of the story started, and now the next chapters will have to do more with the others and the other pairs for this story. In the next chapter, you still see more of everyone else as well as the Carphanie pairing and the pairing that you guys want Rhuben with. (If you guys can't help me decide, then I'll ultimately pick one).**

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**

**kileysuperfan - I'm still trying to decide whether or not to keep it as a PatKatNo love-triangle or which boy to ultimately make Katie end up with. But if there are any ideas you want us to write for another Kiley story, either e-mail then to us or let us know and we'll keep a note of it  
><strong>


	8. You're worthless

.:**CHAPTER SEVEN – You're Worthless:.**

* * *

><p>"<em>Alright, so I think we should go and try and find a new place to live for a while," Riley commented, biting her thumbnail, lowering her voice so her brothers, who were in the other room, wouldn't hear her.<em>

"_Ronan's place is definitely out," Rhuben conceded with a nod. "And it has to be close enough where we can sneak out and sneak back in before dad wakes up from his drunken stupor." She let out a bitter sigh and ran a hand over her face. She then turned her eyes back to her twin. "When do you think we should tell the boys?"_

"_We'll tell them eventually," Riley stated after a second._

"_Right," Rhuben nodded again. "First comes their safety. It's my turn to go out for groceries," Rhuben reached a hand up and lightly touched the black eye she received from her father when she had asked what her chore was that day. "I'll go and start looking for things while I'm out. You guys try to stay away from Dad the best you can."_

"_What about when we go back home?" Riley brought up a good point._

_Rhuben let out a curse as she turned away for a moment. The Jacksons were going to be going back to Australia in a couple of weeks. They would be staying there for about three months, and then be going back to LA to stay for another three months before going back to Australia. It was something that they did to make sure they kept their fans around the world, especially back in their home town, but now it was just becoming a nuisance. Due to the supercharged paparazzi back home as well as their ever hectic schedule, going back home where they were so recognized was probably not a good thing._

"_We'll think of something," Rhuben replied finally. "Don't focus on the future, think of today, because we may not have tomorrow."_

Rhuben sat down at a deserted table in the middle of the mall, to people-watch. It wasn't the most entertaining thing to do, but she was lacking the creative part of her brain that day. There was too much stuff to do, too much work to be done, and she needed a break. Besides, being at the mall by herself was somewhat of a bore, even though she enjoyed the time that she got to herself, since being around her brothers and sister all the time, she didn't get a lot of it. She loved being around them and had a sense of discomfort when they were apart for too long, but there was nothing like her independence from time to time.

The only things keeping her semi-entertained were her two-bars-away-from-death cell phone, her iPod, and the fact that the mall was so big there was always a store that she could discover. But, to put it bluntly, they got a little boring after two hours of constant attention.

Rhuben sighed and looked at her watch before stretching her feet out. _I wonder if Dad's drunk yet. _A bitter smirk slid onto her face. _I wonder if I should go home and just get my beating now? _

As Rhuben's blue orbs continued to slide around the mall, a voice from behind her startled her out of her reverie. "Hey," Rhuben whipped her head around, hearing her neck give an audible crack, and then looked up at James. "What are you doing here?" He then paused, his eyes shifting back and forth.

"You can sit down," she sighed, leaning back in her chair again. "It's not like I'm going to bite your head off for talking to me."

"I wasn't sure," James replied as he slowly lowered himself into the chair across from her. His upper lip twitched and he looked away for a second before crossing his arms on the table and leaning forward, keeping his eyes on her. "Since you guys don't want us around."

Rhuben sighed loudly, sitting up and slapping a hand onto the table top, causing a few passersby to whip their heads towards the source of the sound. When they spotted Rhuben, they just shook their heads and continued walking.

When Rhuben slapped her hand onto the table, James tried not to flinch. He didn't understand why she had the right to be angry, when it was him that was, in essence, losing his friends. When he had first gotten the news from a phone-call from Patrick he didn't believe it. But then the very next day Gustavo had told them that they wouldn't be working with BTR for a while and he knew that he was telling the truth. It had only been a few days, but it seemed like years, since the Jacksons were around. They were always teaching the boys something and things weren't nearly as fun when everyone wasn't together hanging out.

"It's _not_ that we don't want you around," Rhuben said slowly, so James understood her perfectly. "And I'm sure you know that from the countless times Logan has called, I wouldn't be surprised if you guys were listening in the background" she added but then quickly went back to the subject at hand. "We're busy. We have things to do. We have to worry about ourselves in this industry sometimes."

She took a breath and when she spoke again; her voice had taken on a cool tone. "We need to focus on ourselves, because we have been spending every goddamn waking moment trying to help you guys and we never got anything in return for it."

"Are you serious?" James laughed.

"No, I'm not," Rhuben shook her head, her raven tresses flying into her face. "I've told Logan this too, and knowing you guys I'm probably going to have to tell Kendall and Carlos before you guys can take a hint."

"Well, sorry, we just don't believe-"

"It's not anything about believing what we're saying," This is how James could tell the difference between her and her sister. Rhuben didn't fly off the handle when she was angry; she just lowered her voice and was so cold, you could actually feel the chill down your back. Riley, on the other hand, ranted and screamed and raved until you were a quivering blob of jelly. "It's that you listen to what we're saying. We need space and we need to worry about ourselves." Her hands clenched into fists. "You don't know what's going on."

"What's going on," James leapt at the chance. "Maybe we can hel-"

"No one can help," Rhuben interrupted. "It's not anything that needs to be helped; we just need some time to ourselves. Got it?" She looked at her phone and then let out a deep breath of air, which sent her fringe off of her forehead.

"Alright," James just held his hands up defensively and then pulled himself out of his chair. "I'll leave then." He paused, waiting to see if she was going to say anything. But she still had her arms crossed over her chest, was looking away, and had her legs stretched out under the table. But he still didn't leave. "So, are you waiting for someone?"

"My ride home, yeah." Rhuben looked at her watch. She pulled her phone from her pocket again. _Would you just leave so I can walk back home?_

James opened his mouth, looking like he wanted to say something, but then closed his mouth and shook his head. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you around later then." Rhuben just rolled her eyes. James turned and started to walk away.

"You guys are still invited to our concert." Rhuben called after him.

"Cool." James called back.

"If that helps at all," Rhuben muttered under her breath, waiting until James was out of sight before getting up from her seat and walking out of the mall. Rhuben then walked to the grocery store and got two bags filled with groceries and then started the walk back home.

"_Instead of being pathetic and wasting my space why don't you just hang out with your friends? Oh sorry, that's right…You don't have any! You're always going to find ways to push them away, plus you don't deserve friends. You don't deserve anything. Why do you even bother? My God, you are so pathetic. You're disgusting! You're such a loser. A pathetic, stupid, loser...Sometimes I don't know why I adopted you all; you're all so ungrateful anyway. You're just a waste of space. You're just worthless."_

That was the only problem with being alone; you had too much time to think. Those thoughts that Rhuben tried to push out of her mind before she went out to get food came crashing back as soon as the first thought entered her mind.

She shook her head, her hands clenching into fists as she opened her stride and started to walk faster, as if trying to outrun the thoughts that plagued her mind.

…

..

.

Stepping inside her house, Rhuben noticed the smell pretty quickly. The air hung with the stale smell of beer and sweat. She looked around and crept into the house, noticing a second too late that it was too quiet. Before she could put the grocery bags down, there was a blow to her back and she stumbled forward, dropping the bags to the ground. She heard the sound of the eggs in the egg carton breaking as it hit the floor, cans of soup rolled away, tomatoes bounced along the ground.

Rhuben struggled for air, as soon as she was hit in the back, the wind was knocked out of her and she fell to her knees. She landed on her stomach and rolled onto her side, tears pricking the corners of her eyes as she looked up into Robert's face, still struggling to draw in air.

His hair was mangled, the smell of alcohol was on his breath, and the many empty bottles on the table next to him spoke for themselves. The dread in Rhuben's chest was rising now as she watched him tower over her.

_Where are the others? _Rhuben thought to herself, finally drawing in a breath of air in a loud, shuddery gasp. _What did he do to them? I hope they're ok? I should have gotten back sooner to protect them._

Robert kneeled down and in a swift motion slapped her across the face. Rhuben rolled with the hit and moved away from Robert fast enough and with enough space to get to her feet. Then she darted towards the stairs, her father hot on her heels. She risked a glance over her shoulder, to see how close he was.

Big mistake.

She hit the second step and fell.

Hard.

Robert finally caught up to her at her place on the stairs and grabbed Rhuben by the hair. He pulled her from the stairs to a standing position, then, holding back her shoulders wall with one hand, he used the other to repeatedly hit her at any place he could reach above the shoulders.

Rhuben just glared at her father as he screamed at her, she didn't bother to fight back. She knew if she tried that he would still overpower her, and it may just cause even more pain to her brothers and sister in retaliation. Each hit came faster and harder than the one before it, and Robert executed the last one so hard that Rhuben sunk to the floor, hands over her face in a sort of shield.

Rhuben's face was raging with pain and seemed as if it had spread to the rest of her body. She felt lightheaded and weak and was stuck on the ground, leaning on the wall for support to keep her from passing out.

And just as fast as they had ended, the blows started again. Now they came from Robert's foot and were directed at her legs. She watched in horror as Robert sighed in frustration and gave her one last kick.

Then he undid his belt and held it above him like a sword…

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I hope that this chapter didn't scare/scar you guys too much, but it needed to be shown. **I felt that it explained a lot of what needed to be said from another one of the Jackson's point of view. Plus I didn't want to overkill you guys with the Kiley pairing so soon. I still have to show Carphanie, Lomille, and show what's going on with Jo. CHAPTERS AFTER THIS ONE ARE LONGER so I can put them all in there.  
><strong>**

**I've decided to make this a Jella story (as you can see from the little bit of it here) as I have finished numerous Lella stories as well as having finished Della story and I haven't done a completed Jella story. That being said, I've decided that Dak and WayneWayne are secondary characters to this story, really only appearing if needed. But Lizzie is a main character, as she really drives Katie's story plot along.  
><strong>

**Next chapter gets back to the other guys, and then there's probably going to be a chapter that also focuses on Patrick, Noah, and Sydney, since I haven't done that in a while. I hope that you guys liked how this chapter was centered on Rhuben. I hope you enjoyed it in general and I'm still opened to ideas as to what you guys would like to see in this story.**

**Don't forget to listen to the song 'I'm With You' by Avril Lavigne if you want to get a hint to what the story is about. Really, the song perfectly describes my main plot point behind this whole story and I hope that you guys like it, plus its very dramatic and I think that if I didn't already have 2 BTR songs and 2 other songs for the Kiley pairing, it would be a good song for them. (I also think that the song Down would work for any Riley pairing, but that's just me.)**

**Anyways, I'll update again soon.  
><strong>

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	9. Darkness of my past

.:**CHAPTER EIGHT – Darkness of My Past:.**

* * *

><p><em>Kendall eyes narrowed into a squint as he walked out of the mall, the sunlight momentarily blinding him. He brought a hand up to his forehead, shielding his face before sliding on a pair of sunglasses and walking down the sidewalk. His bag of shoes slapped against his side as he went, causing a smile to stretch across his face. There was nothing in the world that could keep him from his shoes and his obsession even went so far that he would freak out if anything scratched or stained it in the first two months of getting them.<em>

"_Kendall."_

_Kendall turned to look over his shoulder as he head his name being called, but didn't see anyone behind him. Shrugging, he turned back around and kept going._

"_Kendall!"_

_Kendall whipped around, this time turning fully to face the person that was calling his name, but he still didn't see anyone. His eyes narrowed as he noticed that there was no one on the sidewalks that were just packed with people. It was completely empty, and there wasn't a sound at all._

"_Help me. Please. Help me."_

_Kendall slapped his hands over his ears as the voices continued to increase in volume. They swirled around him, begging for his help over and over again. He slapped his hands over his ears, but it didn't help, he could still hear the voices. _

"_Where are you?" Kendall called, moving his hands from his ears. "What's wrong? How can I help you?"_

_He looked around, the voices started to fade away._

"_Kendall…Help me…" _

…

_.._

_._

Kendall sucked in a deep breath of air, his eyes shooting open. They darted around, disoriented and he sat up quickly, still looking around. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that he was still in his bed and in his room. Looking over, he saw that Logan was sleeping peacefully, his mouth wide open, but snoring softly.

Kendall rolled his eyes and reached over to his desk, patting around for him phone. He let out a short curse when he knocked his wallet and alarm clock to the floor. He finally found his phone and picked it up, turning it over and pushing a button, lighting up the screen. He sighed when he saw that it was only 1:25 in the morning. Knowing that he wasn't going to get much sleep anytime soon, he pushed the covers off of his bed and swung his legs out and stood up, his back cracking as he did so.

Grabbing his phone and shoving it into the pockets of his sweats he walked around his bed and quietly slipped out of the room, gently closing the door behind him. He went into the bathroom, narrowing his eyes as it adjusted to the sudden light and turned to look at himself in the mirror.

He looked exhausted, there were large bags under his eyes and his eyelids were drooping. Still, he wasn't as tired as he had been before and if he had to guess he would be up for the next two hours.

_I hope there's something good on TV, my mom didn't send me to bed early when I was younger for nothing. _Kendall turned on the faucet and cupped his hands under the running water, cupping some in his hands and splashing it over his face. The cold water instantly snapped his eyes open. _I might as well make the best of it._

He grabbed a towel and dabbed off his face before flipping off the lights and leaving the bathroom. He winced in pain as his knee started to throb, causing him to shuffle as he went over to the couch. _Stupid knee, why do you always have to start hurting when I least want it too?_ He gritted his teeth as he slowly lowered himself down onto the couch. _Thanks Dad, even when you're not around, you gave me a constant reminder of you and what you did to us._

_"What did I tell you about hanging out with those boys?" Kevin Knight growled as soon as Kendall got home, closing the front door behind him. Kendall jumped and whirled around, his eyes widening and then falling into a look of defiance. "Those friends of yours, I don't know about them."_

_"You can't tell me what to do!" Kendall screamed all rational thought of not wanting his father to get mad flying out of his mind. "Leave me alone!" Kendall whirled around and ran towards the stairs. Kevin grabbed Kendall's hair, yanking it so hard that Kendall cried out in pain. "What did I tell you?" He hissed. The combination of hurt and anger fogged Kendall's mind, and I couldn't think straight. _

_He glared at his father vehemently._

_Still pulling his son's hair, he stomped to Kendall's room, throwing him in. Kendall hit the floor and felt something sharp dig into his palm. Looking down, he saw my CDs strewn out across the floor, shattered. Tears welled up in my eyes. _

_"You broke my CDs?" Kendall asked quietly. My dad glanced at me, before shrugging carelessly, as if his action was justified._

_"Part of your punishment," he said, "For disobeying me."_

"_Of __course__ I disobeyed you, you're a __horrible__ father!" Kendall shouted. A second later he found himself on the ground, screaming in pain as he held onto his knee. It was burning with pain, causing tears to form in his eyes._

_Kevin lowered his foot back to the ground. "Don't raise your voice at me." Kevin stated, looking down at his son coolly before leaving the room._

Kendall took another deep breath and leaned over, grabbing the remote as he lifted his leg onto the table, stretching it out. He gave another wince of pain and then pushed the pain away before turning on the TV. As soon as a picture came up, he turned the volume down, making sure that it didn't wake anyone else up.

He flipped through the channels, bypassing movies and random TV shows, stopping on sports center. His upper lip curled when he spotted coverage of football and kept going. It wasn't that he didn't like football, he enjoyed playing it just fine, but there was nothing better than watching a hockey game. It seemed realistic, plus, he didn't believe that there were that many pauses in the game play when it came to football. It wasn't as challenging, you run a ball up and down a field trying not to get hit, hockey was better. It was more fast-paced and you were also on skates on ice, it was even more challenging and even more rewarding than any other sport than he had played.

Kendall continued to channel surf, stopping only when a repeat of a 20/20 news special was on .He watched for a few minutes as they talked about the war going on in Afghanistan, hardly paying attention to it, starting to fall asleep. It wasn't until he heard the words 'child abuse' that he sat up straight, his eyes widening as if someone had thrown a bucket of water on him.

"Abuse isn't anyone's fault and it shouldn't be happening in anyone's family. If you know anyone that is being abused, call someone, or tell someone, they need to get help so they can get protection. If you know of anyone that exhibits these signs-"

The reporter suddenly stopped talking as Kendall turned the TV off again. "What do they know about abuse," he asked himself, bringing his legs up onto the couch. "They're not going to show signs because they're going to keep it a secret the best way the can." He let out a breath through his nose, his eyelids starting to fall shut. "Mom doesn't know, Katie doesn't know, my friends don't know, they don't need to know, and they will never know."

Seconds later Kendall fell into a comfortable slumber.

* * *

><p>"It's almost noon and he's still sleeping?" Dak's eyebrows rose as he leaned over the couch, peering down into Kendall's peaceful face. "He must be a heavy sleeper."<p>

"Eh, he's ok," James shrugged. "One time he slept through Carlos' and Logan's shouting match over which was better to visit, a zoo or an amusement park. But then other times he wakes up at the drop of a pin."

"Is he ok, though?" Jo asked, looking concerned. "He must have had trouble sleeping if he ended up here."

"He must have had trouble sleeping last night." Logan commented. "He's fine, it happens to everyone." He leaned back away from the couch and turned to face Dak, WayneWayne, James, Carlos, Jo, Camille, and Stephanie. "We should wake him up though, he'd be mad if we didn't wake him up to go to the amusement park today."

"I don't really get why we're still going though," Camille stated, crossing her arms over her chest. "Gustavo, Ronan, and Kelly made these plans two months ago, so you guys could have a break from school and work and just have fun." She frowned. "But they just told us that they don't want us around much anymore."

"That's why we're going early," WayneWayne explained. "If they don't want to hang out, then they won't come. But we can still have a fun day with or without them."

"Is that even possible?" Carlos raised his eyebrows in earnest. "I mean, most of the time we're entertained is when they're around." He turned to Logan. "Do you know anything?"

Logan looked offended as he lifted his head, taking his gaze away from Kendall. "What makes you think that I know anything?" He frowned as he mimicked Camille's stance, crossing his arms over his chest. "Just because Riley and Rhuben are my best friends, it doesn't mean that they tell me everything."

"Chill Logan," Stephanie gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "We were just wondering if they told you anything else about what's going on. I mean, we understand that they might be busy, but if there was anything else-"

"I don't know anything else," Logan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And trust me, if I did, I would have mentioned it by now."

"We're not attacking you, Logan; we're just trying to figure out what's going on." Jo stated. "Anyway," she looked at her watch. "Let's wake him up or we'll be late." She took a large step back. "Boys?"

"Oh, I've got to get this on tape," Stephanie whispered, taking her video camera from its case and turning it on. She looked through the view-finder and giggled when Carlos leaned over, giving an exaggerated smile and then shushed the other boys.

He held up three fingers, lowered one, and then lowered the other and Logan, James, Dak, Carlos, and WayneWayne dove onto the couch, on top of Kendall.

"Holy fuck!" Kendall cried as soon as the bodies of his friends landed on him. "Ow! Ow! Get off my knee!" He shouted, although he was laughing as his friends rolled over him.

"Finally you're awake," James slid off of Kendall and onto the ground. "Now get up so we can go to the amusement park!"

"You woke me up just for that?" Kendall asked, resting his head back onto the pillow behind his head, suddenly feeling tired again. He grinned at the horrified expression on Carlos', Dak's, and WayneWayne's faces. "I'm kidding, just got off me and I'll go get dressed." He shoved the other boys to the floor and climbed off of the couch before disappearing into his room.

"What'd we just miss?" Lizzie demanded as she and Katie walked out of Katie's room, a purse dangling off her shoulder, putting sunglasses on her head. "Did we just miss something funny?"

"That's what happens when you spend too much time on what you look like." Dak replied, grinning at his sister as she rolled her eyes in reply.

"You don't know what it takes to be beautiful." Lizzie replied.

"Yes I do," Dak denied. "Because you're in the bathroom for _hours,_ every morning."

"That's because-"

Dak reached out and placed a hand over Lizzie's mouth, effectively cutting her off. He then laughed and bent away as she swung her arms, trying to hit him in the side. Katie laughed as she watched the two of them. In many ways they were like her and Kendall, but she was also sure that her relationship with her brother was stronger. She didn't really make fun of him and she helped him with any plan he needed, especially when he got in trouble. (Which was a lot.)

_Huh_ Katie looked over at Kendall when he walked back out of his room, fully dressed. He was limping a little, and there was a slight bulge around his right knee. _When did he start wearing a knee brace? I never noticed before._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: If you're confused, the first part of italics is Kendall's dream, the next part is his thoughts, then the next part is a flashback. Sorry if I didn't make that clear. Yes, something I have written about before...when they got the amusement park. What relationships and drama with appear there? Of course Gustavo, Kelly, Kacy, and Ronan will be there, I can't have a chapter with great opportunities without them being there. Things are picking up, you see some more about what's up with Kendall, and next few chapters you'll see more of everyone else. I'll update again soon.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	10. Divide and conquer

.:**CHAPTER NINE – Divide and Conquer:.**

* * *

><p>"Are we there yet?" Carlos asked, his face pressed up against the window of the taxi.<p>

"CARLOS, FOR THE LAST TIME," Katie shouted at the top of her lungs, her tiny voice filling the car, causing the taxi driver and the boys to jump. "STOP ASKING THAT-"

"Oh, there's Gustavo and Kelly," Logan broke in, leaning over and pointing out the window. "We're here." The taxi pulled to a stop outside of the amusement park gates and the five of them got out of the taxi.

Logan looked around as the taxis holding the rest of his friends and Kacy pulled up to the amusement park. Families, teenagers, couples, and kids streamed around them through the ticket lines and into the amusement park. He could hear rollercoasters zooming by on their tracks, people screaming, and he could hear a bell going off from the arcade. It was only ten o'clock in the morning and the amusement park was already in full swing.

"Whoo!" WayneWayne cheered as he jumped out of his taxi. "This is going to be so awesome! I haven't been at an amusement part in a long time."

"I know," Carlos agreed. "I can't wait to go on all of the rides, and eat all of the food, and play all of the games, and-"

"And perform a few songs for an impromptu concert." Kelly broke in.

"What?" Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James chorused at the same time, shrieking at the top of their lungs, causing the others to wince.

"Yeah, I thought that this day was for all of them to have some time off and to relax." Kacy stated as she frowned, hiking her purse up her shoulder. "No one said anything about there being a concert." She turned her eyes towards Gustavo and held her gaze on him, her motherly instincts kicking in. "It would be nice to have had a little warning, Gustavo."

"Go mom!" Katie cheered, beside her, Lizzie giggled.

"I couldn't help it," Gustavo threw his arms in the air and then crossed them over his chest, pouting. "It was Griffin's idea, he just told me a few minutes before we left." He wiped sweat off of his forehead, and no one was sure whether the sweat was coming from the heat of the day, or his anger rising at his boss. "You know Griffin, I can't really say a word against him or I'm going to be fired."

"Would that be a bad thing?" Carlos whispered to Logan.

"Just think of it this way," Kelly gave a warm smile towards the boys, who looked less than thrilled about a concert. "It will be good publicity for you guys."

"And we'll get to know our fans, if they're not scared to come up and meet us," Kendall added, always the one to try and come up with the best of any situation.

"Yeah, you'll get used to it," Dak agreed with a warm smile. "You know when they're not chasing you down and ripping your clothes." He laughed at the horrified expressions on Big Time Rush's faces. "I'm kidding, that probably won't happen…you know, up until you get even bigger, then you have to worry."

"And you won't believe how many sets of clothes we had to buy as a backup for Dak," Lizzie added, patting her brother on the arm. "Or the therapy sessions."

"That explains why he's so cracked." WayneWayne joked, elbowing his best friend in the stomach.

"Hey!"

Everyone turned to see Ronan walking over to them, an arm over his head in a wave. He had sunglasses on his face and held an easy-going gate as he walked over to them, a large smile on his face. "Hey, how's it going?" he greeted everyone.

"Not bad," Kelly replied, reaching into her bag and pulled out a tube of sunscreen. With that, Kacy whipped a large bottle out of her bag and started to lather it on her kids and Logan, James, and Carlos, despite their protests. "We just got here." She paused and looked around. "Where's Robert and them?"

"He decided to drive them here," Ronan replied, a look of concern flashing over his face. He then looked at his watch. "They should be here soon."

* * *

><p>"Are we <em>there<em> yet?" Sydney asked, kicking his feet back and forth as he stared out the window.

"Stop it, or else we're throwing you out the car." Robert spoke sternly.

Sydney waited until he was sure that his father wasn't looking at him through the rearview mirror. He stuck out his tongue, quickly sliding it back into his mouth when Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah snickered quietly. Sydney's smile widened and then he stuck his tongue out even further, flapping it up and down.

This time, Robert saw him, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. "Listen you brat!" Robert roared, speeding the car. Sydney's eyes widened and the others just sat in silence. "Stop it right now! Just stop it! I'm going to throw you out; I really am going to, if you don't STOP THIS **INSTANT**!"

Before Sydney could move, Robert reached over to Sydney and slapped him across the face. Sydney didn't move. He sat there as he reached up to his right cheek (which had left a bright red hand mark on it) and touched it tenderly.

He cringed.

It stung—a lot.

Sydney looked down at his shoes. Tears flowed down his cheeks.

He sniffed a little, but stayed quiet.

Patrick reached over and put an arm around his baby brother's shoulders and pulled him into his side, gently patting his back as Sydney continued to sniff, wiping his tears off of his cheek.

"Now, while we're at the amusement park, I don't want you running around, screaming like a bunch of banshees." Robert straightened himself in his seat. "And stay away from us adults as long as possible. I don't want to have to deal with your problems either." He rolled his eyes. "It's bad enough that I'm going to be stuck here all day with Gustavo Rocque, but being there with you lot will be even worse."

Rhuben raised her eyebrows, her eyes widened slightly and she lazily rolled her head across the armrest and looked over at Riley. Riley looked at her out of the corner of her eye and Rhuben raised her eyebrows even further, as if asking a question. Riley smirked and slowly nodded back. Rhuben nodded and moved back to her normal position.

In the rear-view mirror, Robert watched the two of them, his eyes narrowing, but didn't say anything. He never wanted to deal with those kids when he didn't have to, so he wasn't going to annoy himself when he had to around the all day by asking what that look meant. They were just going to give him attitude and then he would have to take the time to discipline them and he didn't want that.

_Sometimes I wonder why I was stupid enough to take these kids _Robert thought. _But them they had to open their mouths and sing and everything was all worth it._

Robert grinned to himself.

By the time that they pulled up at the amusement park, they could tell that their friends were waiting and probably ready to leave without them. Carlos was looking at his watch and bouncing up and down on his toes, a frown on his face. If any of the Jacksons had to guess, it was probably because he was ready to go and get a lot of junk food to eat. One of the good things about being in a band was that you worked out a lot, thus making it that whatever you ate; you basically didn't gain any weight from it. But they were still advised to stay away from dairy and a lot of the really, really bad junk food.

But knowing Carlos, that wasn't going to be an option.

"There you are!" Gustavo boomed as Robert parked the mini-van in the parking lot and the Jacksons all clambered out, slamming the doors behind them.

"Did you get lost on the way here?" Ronan asked, shooting Gustavo a look and then turned back to his boss. He winced a little when Robert glared at him, as if silently telling him to mind his own business. Ronan then dropped his gaze down to Sydney, when he noticed that he had his face turned away from the others. "Syd, what's wrong with your-"

"There was a lot of traffic on the way here," Robert loudly broke in, sliding his sunglasses up his nose. "Anyway," He turned to Gustavo and when he spoke again, it sounded like he was forcing the words out of his mouth. "Did you tell your boys about the-"

"About the impromptu concert that we're giving around lunch time?" James broke in, sounding slightly sarcastic. "Yeah, he just told us. Now I have to mentally prepare myself for it as well as get my brain knocked out of my head while going on rollercoasters." He reached his hand up to his hair. "Do you _know_ how bad your hair can get when you're on a rollercoaster, it's not easy to-"He gulped when Robert turned to him. Even with his sunglasses on, Robert was still as intimidating as ever. "Deal with."

"Don't worry about him," Patrick leaned forward, lowering his voice so only his friends could hear. "He's just in a bad mood because we ran into some traffic." Beside him, Noah quietly nodded, shifting his drawstring back on his back.

"What do you want to do first?" Kelly asked, turning to Kacy, Robert, and Gustavo. "We have all day before the concert and I'm sure that we can-"

"FOOD!" Gustavo bellowed and turned around, pointing to a stall. "I need funnel cake!" He started shoving his way through people to get through the ticket line.

"Am I the only one that's going to laugh if he gets stuck at that turn table thing?" Ronan asked with a half smile, causing Kacy and Kelly to burst out laughing as they followed after him. "We'll meet up with you guys at the stage for the concert!" Ronan called over his shoulder, waving to the kids behind him once they got into the amusement park.

Soon they were lost in the crowd.

"Um," Katie spoke up as she turned to her brother. "Is it alright if Lizzie and I hang out with Patrick, Noah, and Sydney?" She asked, speaking mostly to her brother. "You know, split the groups up into the younger and older kids?"

"Nothing against you personally," Patrick added with a grin and a shrug. "We just don't want you guys to slow us down."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's the reason why." Camille remarked and laughed as Stephanie elbowed her in the side.

"No, but she makes sense." Jo turned to speak to Kendall. Dak raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything. "She and Lizzie probably just want to hang out with their friends without having us around to bother them, so they can try to get to know each other better."

"What does that mean?" Carlos asked, scratching the back of his head.

_I know what that means _Sydney lightly rubbed his cheek, hoping that the redness had gone down by them. _Either they want to split us up to see what's going on with the fact that we haven't hung out as much, or it's because she, being the matchmaker and all, wants to try and further everyone's relationships with each other, including her own. _Sydney shook his head as he turned around, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trunks. _I don't mean to think bad things about her, but either way, nothing good will come of it._

Dak exchanged a look with WayneWayne, who had a knowing expression on his face, and then he looked at Riley. But she was looking around the amusement park, as if other things were catching her eye, blissfully unaware of the fact that Jo was flirting with Kendall.

"It's fine with me," Kendall shrugged a little bit, not too worried. He turned to Dak. "What about you?"

"I'm good." Dak nodded in agreement.

Rhuben let out a sigh and turned to Patrick and Noah, pointing over to Sydney. "Make sure you keep him in your sights at all times." She instructed the twin boys.

"Don't worry," Patrick beamed and gave a thumbs up. "I'll definitely keep my eye on him." He blinked once and then his face wilted with pain and he slapped a hand up to his eye. "Ow! My contact! It hurts!"

Riley, who was standing behind Rhuben, raised her right eyebrow and then the two of them slid their gaze over to Noah. Noah smiled and gave a thumbs up in reply. "Don't do your block;" he stated calmly. "I won't let him out of my sight for a second." He vowed and then slightly leaned forward. "Especially since he's going to need help with the red mark on his face." He lowered his voice.

Rhuben nodded and gave a short wave to the three of them. "Beautie." She replied under her breath and then turned back to her friends. They stood there in silence for a few moments, obviously not sure what to say. "Geez" Rhuben leaned over slightly. "Talk about your tough crowd." She stated into her sister's ear.

"That's what I was thinking," Riley muttered back and then cleared her throat. "Look, can we please just put the stupid hang out thing behind us just for today and have some fun?" She shrugged a shoulder and then crossed her arms over her chest, jutting out her right hip. "I mean, we all deserve it after having to work so much," she pointed to Dak, her upper lip curling. "Mr. Teen Icon on whatever musical he's doing now," then she motioned to Camille and WayneWayne. "You guys with whatever acting job you got," she threw her arms into the air. "And everyone else for doing what they're doing."

"I agree," Logan jumped in quickly, turning the attention to him. "We all deserve a day to relax and have fun and we can start by going on the…" he tapped his chin and looked around. "On the…"

"BUMPER CARS!" Carlos shouted as he started to jump up and down, pointing. "Bumper cars! Let's go on the bumper cars!"

"Oooh, it would be a great angle for recording today," Stephanie grinned as she pulled her video camera out of her bag.

"How about you guys go on the bumper cars," Rhuben stated and then looked over at Riley. The two turned and grabbed onto Logan's arms. "And we just sit back and watch you guys."

"Why do I get the distinct feeling I just backed myself into a corner?" Logan asked with a nervous smile, feeling Riley's and Rhuben's eyes boring into his head. _Wow, they must need to talk about something. I hope I didn't say or do anything wrong earlier._

"Because you did," Riley replied through a forced smile, digging her nails into his arm.

"Why don't you want to come on the ride with us?" James asked, flipping his hair out of his face. "Afraid that you're going to get crushed?"

Rhuben made a face as she dropped her hands from Logan's arms. "Its bumper cars," She stated, her eyes narrowing so close that her eyes were almost closed. "You're _supposed_ to hit other people." She smirked. "It's the only reason why I like the attraction."

"To him or the bumper cars?" WayneWayne asked and then laughed, although he let out a cry of pain when Rhuben punched him on the arm.

James beamed.

"So that settles it," Camille reached out and grabbed onto Riley's and Rhuben's arms. "You're coming onto the attraction with us," she then brought the two girls into her sides in a hug. "And I'm not taking 'no' for an answer."

Kendall nearly burst out laughing at Camille's antics. It was obvious from the way that she had grabbed onto Riley and Rhuben that she was still kind of jealous of the friendship that they had with Logan, since she was still completely head over heels for him. If it wasn't for the fact that she had stopped slapping him in the face so hard and then moved onto tackling Logan to the ground every time she saw him, then he would have been slightly worried that Camille liked him.

"So bumper cars it is then," Kendall rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Let's go then."

They all turned and started walking to get in line. Kendall felt a pair of eyes on him and slowed his stride, looking down to see Riley looking up at him, her arms crossed over her chest and staring at him with a hard expression on her face.

"Is there any particular reason why you're staring at me?" Kendall asked, feeling a little unnerved. But he could feel himself blushing a little.

"What's up with the knee brace, Hockey-Head?" Riley asked, she rolled her eyes when Kendall stammered for an answer, looking down at his leg as he did so. "I can't believe that you forgot how perceptive I can be. That," she waved her arm at his leg. "And anyone can notice the fact that you're walking like a wounded donkey."

"Thanks." Kendall made a face.

"You're welcome," Riley replied, ignoring his tone. "So what happened?"

"Old injury," Kendall replied with a shrug.

"From what?"

"Hockey accident."

"Mhm."

Kendall stopped walking and looked at her. "You don't believe me, don't you?"

Riley shook her head. "Not as far as I could throw you," she shrugged. "Which isn't that far." She didn't need to add it, as it was glaringly obvious. But the way that she said it rubbed Kendall the wrong way, instantly making him annoyed.

"So what?" He returned. "I don't believe you either, not about you guys being so suddenly 'busy'." He used air-quotes. "So what are _you_ hiding?"

Riley stayed silent for a few moments. "Touché," she replied. She turned on her heel. "Hey guys," she called, getting the others' attention. "Kendall's not going to ride this ride," she pointed to him over her shoulder as she lengthened her stride, walking away from him. "He hurt his leg and it's still really bothering him."

Kendall stopped walking and stared at her in shock as she turned and shot a 'take that' look over her shoulder.

"What was that about?" Rhuben asked as Riley caught up to her.

"I'll tell you later." Riley replied.

Jo slowed down and matched her stride with Kendall, looking a little concerned. She patted down her hair a little bit and then looked up at Kendall. "You're not going on the ride huh?" She asked.

"Guess not." Kendall replied, sounding a little mad.

"I'll sit here with you as you wait then," Jo offered. Kendall opened his mouth to protest, but she quickly continued. "I don't mind, I mean, I don't really like the bumper cars anyway, it makes me feel like your head is getting bounced around a lot." She turned and waved as her friends got in line before turning back to Kendall. "So I guess it's just you and me for a little bit." Jo smiled brightly up at Kendall.

He frowned a little, but then his frown turned into a smile as he looked back down at her. "Yeah, I guess so." He agreed and held his arm out to the side, following her as she started to walk towards a candy booth.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So as you can see, having a group of teenagers at an amusement park isn't really going to help much with their hormones flying around, the romanticism of the rides, and the tension as BTR doesn't know if the Jacksons actually wanted to be there or not. So that just makes these next few chapters DRAMA FILLED! I'm sure it's your guys' favorite kind by now. Hahaha.**

**I'll update again soon.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	11. Screaming metal death trap

.:**CHAPTER TEN – Screaming Metal Death Trap:.**

* * *

><p>"Darn it!" Lizzie cried as she slapped her ring down on the side of the booth. "Why can't I get this ring around the milk bottle?" She let out a huff and turned her back to the booth, crossing her arms over her chest.<p>

Sydney giggled, holding onto the giant stuffed monkey that Katie had won him at the booth where you had to climb up a rope bridge that was shook around, to get a prize.

"It's because this thing is rigged," Noah said from beside her, where he had his forearms resting on the side of the booth. "Here," he held his hand out as he stood up straight. Lizzie slapped the ring into his hand. "Syd, how would you do this?" He turned to his youngest brother, lightly running his tongue over the piercings under his lip.

"Hm," Sydney rubbed his lips together as his eyes shifted back and forth, scanning every angle of the bottles and the ring, mentally calculating how to throw the ring. Suddenly, he pointed. "Go for the one at the back," he instructed. "If you toss underhanded gently, you should get it."

"Thanks," Noah replied appreciatively and gripped the ring.

"Hey wait," the booth runner cried. "You can't do-"

Noah tossed the ring and smiled as it easily slid over the mouth of the bottle. The booth runner looked over at Sydney and muttered a few curses under his breath before reaching over and grabbing a stuffed purple bear. Noah took it and then handed it to Lizzie.

"Here," he said as he took it. "You can have it because you were trying so hard to get it in the first place."

"Thanks Noah," Lizzie gushed and put her arm around Noah's shoulders. "You're amazing you know that."

"_You're amazing you know that_," Katie repeated in a high pitched voice. She was standing a few steps away from the others, eating her cup of Oreo Dippin' Dots. "Oh please." She shook her head. "You're only going after them because you know that I like them."

"Oh my gosh!" Katie suddenly winced at a loud shriek behind her and turned to see a blonde girl scurry over to Patrick. He looked back at her, looking slightly interested, but annoyed at the same time. Katie couldn't help but roll her eyes. _Obviously this happens to him a lot. _She walked over to hear their conversation. "You're Patrick Jackson-McGuire! You're even hotter in person."

"Thanks," Patrick replied politely. He stuck out his hands. "It's nice to meet you…"

"Heather," she gave Patrick her fingertips to shake. "My name's Heather."

"I like that name," Patrick pointed over my shoulder. "That's Patrick and Noah and these are my friends Katie and Lizzie."

"Heyy," the girl gave a finger-wave, her eyes still on Patrick. "So, do you want to go on the spinning cups with me?"

"Wait," Katie frowned, taking another step forward. Mentally, she snickered to herself at her next words. "I thought that you were going to go on that swing ride with _me_." She frowned.

"Why would he want to go with _you_?" Heather asked, turning to stare hard at Katie. "I'm a fan; he should pay attention to me."

"Wait-"

"But I'm his best friend," Katie ignored Patrick, taking a step forward. "And he already promised that he'd go on the ride with me."

"Guys-"

Heather turned to Patrick. "So are you going on the ride with me or no?" She demanded, slapping her hands on her hips. She turned her gaze over to Katie. "Or are you just going to sit here and talk with _her_?" She wrinkled her nose. "She's not that pretty anyway."

"What did you just say?" Noah demanded, walking over.

"Look, you're not double parked," Patrick's eyes narrowed into a glare as he moved in front of Heather, looking down at her. His accent crept into his voice as he continued to speak. "I mean first things first, Katie is my friend and you will _not _talk to or about her like that!" He held up his middle finger. "So just take a number and wait in line!"

"Well, I never!" The girl huffed and whirled on her heel to walk away.

"And at this rate you never will!" Patrick continued and then gave a bright smile as he gave a finger-wave. "Goodbye." Heather let out a shriek and continued storming away.

"You _do_ know that you've probably just made a million headlines saying you're a jerk, right?" Noah stated as he raised his eyebrows. Patrick shrugged as he turned around.

"Sorry, but I won't let anyone talk badly about my friends." He stated and then looked over at Katie, who looked back at him with wide eyes. "What?"

"I can't…believe you did that for me…" Katie replied slowly. Behind her, Lizzie grinned, holding her hands behind her back as she watched. Sydney just stood off to the side, looking around nervously. "I mean," she suddenly adopted a bored look. "What she said didn't bother me. She's probably just jealous that Kendall is my brother and that I hang out with you guys all the time." She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "It's no big deal."

Patrick's lips twitched, and he shook his head. "Whatever. Don't say that I've never done you a favor."

He jumped as a hand suddenly landed on the back of his neck, squeezing hard. He tilted his head back and saw his father standing over him. His lips were in a thin line and his gray eyes were flashing with anger. Patrick let out a loud gulp and Noah moved over to Sydney, wrapping both of his arms around him.

"Let's go," Robert said slowly, menacingly. "Now. We have to leave now. I can't have you embarrass everyone and give yourself bad press because you were being rude to a fan."

"B-but dad," Patrick stammered, starting to shake. "W-what about the concert? And Big Time Rush's performance? They have to-"

"They're still going to perform," Robert tightened his grip, causing Patrick to wince noticeably. Sydney made a whimpering sound, grabbing Katie's and Lizzie's attention, and he pressed his face into Noah's side. Noah expertly avoided their gaze. "But you guys are going home, now!" He shoved Patrick away from him. "Call your sisters and tell them that you're leaving and go to the car." He turned on his heel.

"I have to go and tell Ronan that we're leaving and to get him to tell the park that your performance is cancelled."

"Come on," Noah tried hard to keep his gaze off of Katie and Lizzie as he directed Sydney over to Patrick, and then placed his hand on Patrick's shoulder. "Let's get going before he gets even madder."

* * *

><p>"So what do you guys want to do now?" Kendall asked as he got off of the merry-go-round, which Carlos had begged and pleaded everyone to get on. "We could do the booths to win prizes and stuff or…" he shielded his face and looked up, then pointed. "We can go on that rollercoaster."<p>

"Don't you think that it would bother your knee?" Riley asked. If anyone had walked by and heard her ask that question, they would have thought that she was just concern about him. But Kendall, and everyone else, could detect the passive-aggressiveness of the question. "I mean, going up that high, with air pressure changes, it can really bother it."

"Oh, you mean like your attitude is bothering me," Kendall shot back, adopting the same tone.

"Exactly," Riley replied, not sounding like she was offended. "But it's good to see that you're telling the truth now."

Kendall's anger flared up at that one comment, and as he turned around to face her, he had the sudden feeling to yell at her and to shake her until she stopped using that superior attitude on him. He could tell that she was upset because he was lying to her, and it bothered him that she was upset, because he and the others could tell that she was clearly lying to them in return. They wanted their space? If they wanted their space so badly, they wouldn't have continued to go over to Rocque Records and held the guys with their music. There was definitely something else going on.

"Stop!" Carlos suddenly moved between the two of them, placing a hand on each of their shoulders, keeping them apart. "Come on guys, today is supposed to be a day of fun, and you're arguing."

"Carlos is right," Jo spoke up and moved next to Kendall, wrapping her hands around Kendall's right arm. "You don't want to fight, or you might say something you'll regret."

"Ok, how about this," WayneWayne took a step forward as well. "Dak, Riley, Camille, Carlos, Steph, and I'll go on the rollercoaster and you, Rhuben, James, Logan, and Jo will stay here and play with some of the attractions." He looked back and forth between Riley and Kendall. "That way you two can have some time to cool off."

"Fine." The two chorused in reply, turning away from each other.

So the two groups split up and for the next half hour they did their own thing. As Kendall, Logan, James, Rhuben, and Jo continued to play game after game, winning some prizes, and getting some food, the others went on as many rollercoasters and thrill rides as they possibly could.

"Whoo!" James punched the air with his fists, dropping the large hammer onto the ground as a bell rang out across the amusement park. "I am _so_ strong, it's not even funny!" He lifted his arms and kissed his biceps. "Just look at these guns."

"Look at them any longer and you may shoot your eye out," Rhuben called from where she was sitting on the edge of a fountain, eating cotton candy.

James grinned as he took the stuffy puppy that the attraction runner held out to him and he turned and walked over to the fountain, holding it out to Rhuben. She looked surprised, her eyes narrowing as she looked up at him. "I want you to have it," he explained and then his grin widened. "That way you can look at it and remember the handsome guy that won it for you."

Rhuben blinked and let a shadow of a smile pull through, before she shook her head and pushed it away from her. "Sorry, but I'm allergic to stuff animals." She said quickly. _That was really nice…why would he do that?_

"Are you surrrrrre?" He waved it like a hot pastry under her nose.

"Yes." Rhuben replied with more force than she meant to put into the word. "I'm sure." James frowned for a second, then shrugged and sat down on the fountain beside her, waiting for the others to come back from whatever attraction they were at.

"So, what's eating you?" James asked after a minute. "You're more quiet than usual."

James wasn't sure if she was going to respond, as she stayed quiet for a few minutes more, but then she spoke up. "Have you ever kept a secret from Kendall, Logan, and Carlos before? Like, a really big one?"

"No," James rubbed his chin. "I tell them everything." He scratched the back of his neck. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever kept a secret in my entire life, unless someone else told me a secret." He looked at her. "Why?"

"I was just thinking that you could give me some advice," Rhuben replied slowly. "But since you've never kept a secret..." she shook her head. "Don't worry about it." She stated firmly.

"Alright," James replied, sounding unconvinced as he stood up, stretching. "But if you need my help or just advice in general, you know where to find me."

"Mhm," Rhuben murmured, still looking away from him. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone as it started to ring. "Hello?" Rhuben asked, whipping her phone out of her pocket as it started to ring. Her eyebrows furrowed together. "Why?" She then winced and pulled the phone away from her ear. "Yes, sir." She muttered and closed the phone. "I have to go!" she announced, standing up.

"What?" Jo asked as she and Kendall walked over to the others, their arms brushing as they walked. "Why?" She looked at her watch. "You performance isn't until-"

"No," Rhuben interrupted. "I have to leave the park." She shrugged. "Syd is sick and we have to get him home."

"Hey," Riley called as she walked over, the others in tow. "Did Pat just call you?"

"Yeah," Rhuben replied quickly. "Sad to hear that Syd's sick." She raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, it sucks," Riley ran a hand through her hair. "So, you guys have fun at your performance," she started to walk away from them, walking backwards. "And tell us about it later, we really have to go."

"No, wait," A burst out panic hit Logan's chest and he grabbed Riley's and Rhuben's arms, lightly pulling them away from the others. "Keeping this secret for you is killing me. I don't know how much longer I can keep the other guys from knowing that your dad is hitting you." He looked at them with pleading eyes. "And it kills me every time I see one of you come in with a bandage or a black eye or a broken bone."

Riley looked impatiently at her watch. "What's your point, Logan?"

"Maybe you should tell," Logan whispered in reply. "I know that if you ask them to keep your brothers and sister together, everything will be ok. Maybe Ronan can-"

"Ronan, no offense to him, can barely take care of himself let alone take care of all five of us," Rhuben interrupted. She scratched her forehead. "Besides, we're fine every now and then when we go and stay with Julius and Brittany."

"But he seems really mad now," Logan said earnestly. "Especially if he's taking you from the park and won't let you do your performance. How can you be so sure that he's not going to hurt you?"

"I can't," Rhuben replied honestly. "Because he's going to." Logan frowned. "But we can take care of it," she nodded over at Riley. "We always do and we're always fine."

"But what if you're not fine this time." Logan whispered.

"Logie-Bear, listen," Riley reached out and grabbed onto his arms. "We told you this because we knew that you could keep a secret. And you're going to keep that secret until we decide that it's a good time for everyone else to know or if everything goes to hell if it comes to that." She tightened her grip. "So before then, keep your mouth shut." Logan's frown deepened and Riley gave him a pleading look. "I'm asking you as my best friend, Logan. Please don't tell."

Logan held his breath, millions of thoughts racing through his head. _I don't know if I can do that. I need to tell someone, Kelly, Gustavo, Ronan, or Mama Knight. They can't keep going through with this pain. But if they've survived this far, they're stronger than I thought._

"Ok," he finally relented. "I won't tell." He looked back and forth between the twin girls. "But you have to do it soon or I will."

"Logie-"Rhuben was cut off and she set her jaw, her eyes flashing, but stayed silent.

"That's my only offer, and I'm being serious." Logan replied, pushing Riley's hands off of his arms. "You tell soon or I will. And God help us, I hope you do it soon." He turned and walked back to the others.

"Great," Rhuben slapped her hands down to her side. "Now Logan's mad at us."

"He's not mad, just frustrated." Riley replied, scratching her forehead. "It's a good thing we're going home soon; we don't have to worry about it nearly as much." She looked at Rhuben. "Speaking of which, Kendall's knee is bothering him. He says it's from a hockey accident, but I don't believe that."

"That's why you're fighting?" Rhuben raised an eyebrow and, despite the circumstances, burst out laughing. "Wow, that's actually, really stupid." She stopped laughing abruptly. "I knew that you got mad about stupid things before, but this just takes the cake." She raised an eyebrow. "You know, especially since you were the one that suggested that we should push them away."

"Yeah, well," Riley kicked at a rock on the ground, shoving her hands into her pockets. "You agreed with the idea."

"Only knowing that it could possibly help a little," Rhuben admitted. "And because I knew that you wouldn't take anyone else's advice." She gave a sarcastic smile. "But what can I say…we just like to run and deal with things later, instead of having to let everyone else in on our problems."

"Yeah," Riley chuckled. "It's a bitch, isn't it?"

"You got that right."

"I'll walk you back to your car," Jo offered. Riley started to protest, but Jo took a step forward. "I have something I want to ask you anyway and now is as good a time as any."

"Fine." Rhuben turned on her heel and walked towards the car park. _Ugh, Pat, what'd you do this time? I know that you were trying to defend Katie, but was it really worth it?_

"So what did you want to ask me?" Riley asked, sounding a little irritable as she, Jo, and Rhuben went to the car park. "It must be important if you didn't want the others around to ask."

"Yeah, it has to do with Kendall." Jo replied and then looked over at Riley. "Do you like him?"

"He's my friend," Riley replied shortly. "Well, right now I'm not sure if he is. But he's my friend and that's it." She lifted her head and looked up at Jo. "Why?" It was a loaded question.

"Well, I was thinking of asking him out…" Jo said, giving a nervous smile. "I mean, you guys are close, you're like, together more than he and Katie are. I didn't want to step on your toes if I asked him and you liked him…it's alright if you do like him, I won't even try…I'll just sit back and-"

"Joey, you're rambling!" Riley pointed out. She made a face.

"So, is it alright if I ask Kendall out?" Jo asked, wringing her hands together, waiting for the answer. Rhuben stayed silent.

Riley let out a breath through her nose as she looked over at her sister. Rhuben raised an eyebrow in reply and Riley looked back at Jo and shrugged, her eyebrows lowering and her eyes hardening. "No offense Jo, friends or not, you shouldn't have to ask me to go out with Kendork. Frankly, I've got more important things to think about then who is dating who." She waved a hand. "Ask him out if you want, it's none of my business, I don't care."

"Ok," Jo didn't look convinced. "If you're sure."

Riley nodded. "I am."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The chapters are getting longer and things are heating up between everyone and because of that, this isn't going to be a long story, it's either going to end at 20 or 25 chapters, so not many left after this is updated, I hope that I don't accidentally rush everything though.**

**I decided that while this story is mainly centered on Kiley and that's what the plot of the story is driven around (because it's a request from pebbles7092) the story is also going to be driven by the Jella pairing along with PatKatNo. I hope you guys liked this chapter; I didn't need the concert at the amusement park to be a big part, more of the reason why Robert is there.**

**I know you didn't see any of Gustavo, Kelly, Ronan, and Kacy, but they've got their fair share of drama coming up soon too.**

**By the way, can anyone guess why I named this chapter 'screaming metal death trap'?**

**I'll update again soon.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	12. I want to runaway

**.:CHAPTER ELEVEN – I want to runaway:.**

* * *

><p>"<em>Kendall."<em>

_Kendall turned to look over his shoulder as he head his name being called, but didn't see anyone behind him. Shrugging, he turned back around and kept going._

"_Kendall!"_

_Kendall whipped around, this time turning fully to face the person that was calling his name, but he still didn't see anyone. His eyes narrowed as he noticed that there was no one on the sidewalks that were just packed with people. It was completely empty, and there wasn't a sound at all._

"_Help me. Please. Help me."_

_Kendall slapped his hands over his ears as the voices continued to increase in volume. They swirled around him, begging for his help over and over again. He slapped his hands over his ears, but it didn't help, he could still hear the voices. _

"_Where are you?" Kendall called, moving his hands from his ears. "What's wrong? How can I help you?"_

_He looked around, the voices started to fade away._

"_Kendall…Help me…" _

…

..

.

"Hockey-Head?...Kendall, wake up!"

Kendall groaned and pulled the covers up over his head, but when the voices didn't stop he poked his head out and looked around the room, his eyes stopped over at the window when he noticed a figure hanging off the window sill.

"Hurry up, and open the window, Kendall!"

Recognizing the voice, Kendall leapt out of his bed and strode over to the window. He opened it and his mouth dropped open when he looked down at Riley. "What are you doing?" he looked around. "How did you even get up here?"

"I climbed," Riley replied as she lifted herself onto her forearms. "It wasn't hard; you're only on the second floor."

"Ok, Spiderman," Kendall snorted, taking a step back so she could move into his room. He shook his head, watching as she climbed through the window. "18 years old and you don't know how to use a fucking door."

"Watch it." Riley returned sharply.

"Oooh," Kendall waved his hand mockingly. "Did I offend you? What do you want?"

"You're really not going to make this easy are you?" Riley asked, perturbed, her annoyance spiking pretty quickly.

"Can you make this fast, I don't want Logan to wake up and think the wrong thing." Kendall replied, motioning over to the other bed, where Logan was snoring quietly. "You know," he looked at her. "'Cause I'm dating Jo and everything."

"Right," Riley replied shortly. Kendall wasn't sure whether or not she was annoyed with what he said (which is what he was secretly hoping for) or just agreeing with his statement. "Anyway," she ran a hand through her hair, looking pained. "I…wanted to…apologize…for being so hard on you about your leg and everything." She looked uncomfortable. "What happened is none of my business and if you didn't want to tell me, I shouldn't have forced you to do it."

"Thank you," Kendall replied and sat down on the floor next to his bed. "But, I should have seen it coming, since you always butt in to our business anyway." He chuckled as Riley lightly kicked him in the side.

But it wasn't a good natured chuckle. That chuckle covered the spike of fear that immediately went down his spine, it covered his immediate reaction to bend to the side, trying to get away from the kick, and burst out into tears of fear. It had been a long time since his father was around and a long time since he had felt the abuse from the hands of his father, but ever since he started thinking of it again, the memories continued to come back full force. Now anything that reminded him of it caused him to jump in terror.

"Apology accepted." He added after a moment of her staring at him. "Really," he added after a moment. "I'm sorry for getting mad at you, too. I know, in your weird way of showing it, that you were worried."

"Right," Riley stated again, taking a step back as she looked around, as if just noticing that she was in Kendall's room. Logan let out a soft snore and rolled onto his other side. Riley's eyes narrowed. _He is so __not__ asleep. _"Well, I guess I should say 'bye' now, since I'm heading back home after the concert."

"No need to say bye, you'll be back," Kendall replied, his voice lowering.

_I hope so_ Riley nearly burst out crying, the frustration suddenly getting to her. It was unfair, while she and her siblings tried to keep it a secret of what their father was doing to them, Logan knew, and didn't tell anyone, and every now and then they purposely tried to get someone else to notice the bruises and the scars, just to see if they would tell. _At this rate I wish Logie wasn't such a push-over and would tell someone already._

Riley silently nodded and turned to the window, lifting her foot, getting ready to go out and to go back home. "Wait," Kendall grabbed onto her arm and turned her around.

"Yeah?" Riley asked in a whisper, looking up at him. _That's all you're going to say? You're not even going to say goodbye? You're just going to let me leave with that monster?_

Kendall placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, grinning at her. "Have a good show tonight."

* * *

><p>"I look around me but all I seem to see is people going nowhere, expecting sympathy." She sang and brushed her hair out of her face. It's like we're going through the motions of a scripted destiny. Tell me where's our inspiration? If life won't wait, I guess it's up to me." She pulled her guitar back in front of her and started to play it to come in with the chorus.<p>

"Woah!" Patrick, Noah, and Sydney sang.

"No, we're not gonna waste another moment in this town." The Jacksons sang in unison.

"Woah!"

"And we won't come back your world is calling out."

"Woah!

"We'll leave the past in the past, gonna find the future. If misery loves company well, so long, you'll miss me when I'm gone."

"You're gonna miss me when I'm gone." Riley repeated and backed away from the microphone as Rhuben moved up to hers and started singing.

"Procrastination, running circles in my head, while you sit there contemplating, you wound up left for dead." She tilted her head to the side as she sang, moving her eyes along the audience, making sure she made eye-contact with as many people as she could. "Life is what happens while you're busy making your excuses. Another day, another casualty, but that won't happen to me."

They moved through the chorus again, getting more into it, and feeding off of the energy that the crowd had thrown back to them. Patrick though, had heeded the doctors warning and didn't go as crazy as he usually did on stage, but was having fun anyway. Soon it was his, Noah's, and Sydney's turns to sing.

"Won't look back, when I say goodbye. " Patrick sang.

"I'm gonna leave this a hole behind me, gonna take what's mine tonight." Noah sang.

"Because every wasted day becomes a wasted chance." Sydney sang.

"You're gonna wake up feeling sorry, because life won't wait, I guess it's up to you." Patrick, Noah, and Sydney sang as they moved into the final run of the chorus.

"Woah!" Riley sang.

"No, we're not gonna waste another moment in this town." Patrick, Noah, and Sydney sang.

"Woah!" Rhuben sang.

"And we won't come back your world is calling out."

"Woah!" Riley and Rhuben sang.

"We'll leave the past in the past, gonna find the future. If misery loves company well, so long, you'll miss me when I'm gone." Sydney sang.

"You're gonna miss me when I'm gone." Rhuben sang.

"You're gonna miss me when I'm gone." Patrick and Noah sang.

"You're gonna miss me when I'm gone." Riley concluded.

As the applause went up, the DarkElements switched their positions so Sydney had the microphone, Patrick had the bass but was standing on the left, Riley had the guitar but was standing on the right, Noah had another guitar, and Rhuben was on the drums. Noah started the opening of the song and another cheer went up as the audience recognized it, prompting Riley to clap over her head, starting the beat of the audience to clap along with her.

"This is Anthem of Our Dying Day." Sydney announced.

"The stars will cry the blackest tears tonight," Sydney sang into the microphone as he walked to the front of the stage and bent down, touching people's hands and trying not to get pulled down. "And this is the moment that I live for, I can smell the ocean air. "Here I am…" he pulled the microphone form his mouth and held it out so the audience shouted the words back at them.

_"Pouring my heart onto these rooftops, just a ghost to the world." _Katie, Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and Carlos gleefully shouted the lyrics along with the song, having heard the song a million times before. But James, Logan, and Kendall chose not to, they still weren't used to the fact that they were willingly singing songs about their past. But if they were ok way it, and then they would be too.

"That's exactly, exactly what I need." Sydney pulled the microphone back to his mouth and started to sing again. "From up here the city lights burn, like a thousand miles of fire. And I'm here to sing this anthem, of our dying day." He jumped backwards as Riley, Patrick, and Noah jumped around the stage, still playing their guitars.

"For a second I wish the tide," Sydney sang and paused as Patrick stopped playing the bass and pointed over to Riley, who had stopped playing and grabbed her guitar, swinging it around her neck, causing the audience to scream in appreciation. "Would swallow every inch of this city, as you gasp for air tonight.

"I'd scream this song right in your face if you were here," Noah came in, singing with Sydney. "I swear I won't miss a beat, cause I never, never have before."

"From up here the city lights burn, like a thousand miles of fire." Riley, Rhuben, and Sydney sang as Patrick took his guitar and swung it around his neck as he spun in a circle at the same time. "And I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day."

"Of our dying day," Sydney sang and skipped to the front of the stage. "Of our dying day." As he sang, Riley, Patrick, and Noah jumped up and down along with the pulses of music. "Of our dying!" He screamed along with Patrick, shocking his friends, who didn't know that he could do scream as well.

Sydney took a breath as he wiped sweat off of his forehead. Riley and Noah smiled as they pressed their foreheads together and continued to play the melody to the song. "For a second I wish the tide would swallow every inch of this city."

"As you gasp for air tonight!" Patrick screamed into his microphone as Riley and Noah stopped playing the guitar and Rhuben continued to hit the hit-hat and the crash symbol as well as hitting the bass drum.

"From up here the city lights burn, like a thousand miles of fire." Rhuben sang, twirling one drumstick through her fingers and using the other to continue to hit the drums. "And I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day." She sang as Riley did a pick-slide and spun in a tight circle.

"From up here the city lights burn like a thousand miles of fire and I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day." Riley and Sydney sang in unison. Riley held out the word 'day' as Sydney continued to sing the next part of the song.

"From up here the city lights burn," He squeezed his eyes shut and bent down, holding onto his stomach, putting a lot of emotion into the song. "Like a thousand miles of fire and I'm here to sing this anthem of our dying day."

"Our dying day." Patrick came in screaming along with Sydney.

"Of our dying!" Riley, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney screamed in unison and ended the song with a crash of the symbols. Riley rubbed her throat and made a face as the audience clapped and cheered, glow sticks flying.

"Thank you everybody," Patrick waved, slightly out of breath. "Thanks for coming, you all are beautiful, you're all legend. Good night and take care!"

* * *

><p>"So why are you and Kendall fighting, Riles?" Patrick asked, resting his chin in his hand after their concert that night. They were waiting in their dressing room for Robert and Ronan to get back, so they could grab their stuff and head straight to the airport to go back to Australia. "You haven't spoken to each other without a note of passive-aggressiveness for days and if I didn't know any better, I would say that there was some sexual tension going on there."<p>

"You're crazy." Riley spat, elbowing Rhuben in the side as she burst out laughing.

"I mean, it's obvious that you like him Ri-Ri," Sydney said with a grin. "And that you like James, Rhu-Rhu. Which is just as well, because whenever one of you four like him there's no point in keeping it a secret because the rest of us can tell just like 'that'," he snapped his fingers for emphasis.

That was true. As soon as Patrick, Noah, and Sydney noticed that Riley and Rhuben liked Kendall and James, they demanded their older sisters to tell them right then and there and they did. If they denied it, there would be no point. The five of them knew each other so well (due to the fact that they spent almost 24/7 together) they couldn't keep a secret from each other no matter how hard they tried. So if one of the girls (or Patrick and Noah) looked at someone else in a different way, the other five knew in about five seconds. It also helped that the one person couldn't date anyone with at least 3 of the other 4 siblings' approval.

It worked for the most part.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway," Riley stated as she studied her hand of cards more intently than she needed to. "Because Jo asked Kendall out. I don't care."

Patrick laughed hollowly, and then abruptly stopped, putting down his hand of cards. "You know what, Riley? You are so selfish and hypocritical!"

"Dude," Noah looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. "Do you _have_ a death wish?"

"No," Riley held up a hand, lightly pushing herself back and forth, her foot resting against the floor. Her hand was raised to her chin and she was looking at Patrick intently. "I want to hear what he has to say."

Patrick sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You're the person that cares about other people before yourself." He stated. "And with that philosophy, you're trying to make it that Kendall is happy with someone that wouldn't potentially hurt him in the long run, so you're pushing him to go out with Jo. But while you're doing that, you're actually hurting him more than you think. You're not giving Kendall a chance to express his feelings for you, and by trying to protect him from being hurt from something that you _may not_ do, you're ignoring his feelings to make sure that you're ok. That's selfish and hypocritical."

There was a brief silence and everyone looked at him. He sighed loudly, rolling his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Yes, I can be smart. No need to be surprised."

"If I'm being selfish and a hypocrite," Riley's eyes hardened. "What are you being with Katie?"

"That's different!" Patrick protested.

"How?"

"Because you're afraid of hurting Kendall's," Noah looked over at Rhuben. "And James' feelings. You're not afraid that you're going to physically hurt them." He looked at his hands, as if he was ashamed. "Like we could potentially hurt Katie."

"What are you talking about?" Rhuben scratched the back of her head.

"I get it," Sydney spoke up and looked at his sisters. "Just like the guys that have dated and broken your hearts, you don't want to physically and/or mentally hurt Kendall or James." He turned to Patrick and Noah. "But because Patrick and Noah have never dated, they're afraid that if they do date Katie, they could end up being like dad, let their anger completely control them, and end up hitting her, just like he hit us." He shrugged. "It makes sense, in some way, shape, or form, someone that has been abused is ten times more likely to hurt their own kids or significant other."

"Wow," Rhuben snorted. "We're so messed up." She brought her hand of cards up to her face again. "When did things become so complicated? I mean, it was all perfectly fine a while ago."

"Yeah, up until dad screwed everything up by making it harder for us to keep the secret from our friends," Noah added thoughtfully. "If he wasn't around so much…"

"What are you getting at?" Sydney asked.

"I don't know," Noah shrugged. "Maybe it would be a good thing if we just told, get everything over with, we wouldn't have to deal with the secrets, and the stress, the worrying. How much longer can we do this before someone finds out or before Logan tells."

"Logan asked the same thing when we were at the amusement park." Riley admitted. "I think, we should go back to Australia, try and make things die down, and deal with it there, we don't need the baggage to bring back to our friends." She shrugged. "If things don't get better by that time, we'll go to the police, bet?"

"Bet." Noah replied with a grin. There was an almost silent knock on the door. "Door's open!" He called, looking over his shoulder, expecting Robert or Ronan. But when the door opened and he spotted Katie, he quickly got out of his chair and busied himself with re-packing his backpack.

"Hey," she greeted with a wave. "I know that we already said our goodbyes and everything before your show, but…I…"

"Hey Syd," Rhuben spoke up suddenly. "Didn't you tell me that you wanted to ask Ronan something?" She widened her eyes when Sydney gave her a confused look and shook his head. "Yeah you did, you said that you wanted to ask him something about Riles and my vocals on that _new song_ we've been working on!" She widened her eyes even further and Sydney's eyes suddenly flew open.

"Oh, yeah," he laughed nervously and got down from his seat. "That song, right." He grabbed his bag that was by the chair. "Let's go, we'll see you when we get back Katie." He gave her a quick hug around the waist and left the room with Riley and Rhuben behind him.

"So," Katie said as soon as she, Noah, and Patrick were the only ones in the room. "I was just wondering when you guys got back, do you want to hang out or go to dinner or something?" She gave a quick nervous smile.

Noah's head shot up and his face turned red. He locked eyes with Katie and then looked away, turning to Patrick. He placed a hand on Patrick's shoulder, murmured something into his ear, and then put his bag on his back. He walked over to Katie and wrapped his arms around her in a hug, then let go and left the dressing room.

"What was that about?" Katie laughed nervously.

"Uh," Patrick cleared his throat as he concentrated on putting his bass back into its case. "He's not very good with making people upset for any reason."

"W-what do you mean?" Katie wiped her hands on the sides of her pants, lifting her chin and looking at him defiantly.

"You were asking us out, right?" Patrick asked, getting right to the point. "Which, I've got to say is pretty bold, especially since you asked out a set of twins." The corner of his lip twitched. "I'm guessing out of the two of us you don't know which one you like more?"

Katie nodded silently, still waiting for the answer.

"I'm sorry to do this Katie," Patrick pulled his guitar case up over his shoulder, shrugging into it. "It's nothing against you, seriously, but it's not a good idea for us to go out." He hesitated for a moment, closing the case. The clasps made a loud noise as they closed. "You don't want to date a musician anyway."

"Why not?" Katie spoke in a whisper, afraid that if she spoke in a voice that was any louder she would start crying. And she really wanted to cry. She hadn't just been rejected by one guy, she had been rejected by a set of twins, who were also her best friends, and it was beyond humiliating.

"Because in some way, shape or form, every musician is broken," Patrick replied, looking more serious that Katie had ever seen him before.

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing," Patrick shook his head. "But, I'll see you later, yeah?" He then gave her a half smile. "I mean, it's only three months and it will go by fast." He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. But his hand was shaking.

Then he was gone.

Katie wiped a tear off of her cheek, sniffing a little bit.

Being rejected hurt, but being rejected by two people, even though only one person said it was twice as bad. But even though she was upset about it, there was something else on her mind.

When she looked at Patrick as he was leaving…it was like he was begging her not to let him go…

Logan frowned as he looked up at the sky, watching as a plane passed overhead in the sky. No doubt, it was the Jacksons' plane heading to Australia. He had a feeling that it was that one, even though he couldn't be sure.

_Bella…Landy…I hope you know what you're doing. If something happened to you guys out there and I didn't say anything…I don't know if I would be able to live with myself._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The concert was rushed because I wanted a bit of music in there, but it wasn't supposed to be a main part of the chapter. I'll give you a cookie if you can guess why I chose those songs to show they performed and what you think Kendall's dreams are…**

**Yes, Patrick's rejection of Katie on his and Noah's behalf was kind of harsh, but it needed to be done that way. These last two chapters were based on everyone, the next chapter is going to show a lot of Kendall and the guys, and then Riley's will be the next one.**

**Oh and **BTRCaitlin **brought up a good point, I didn't say what everyone's ages are, so I mentioned Riley's in here which means that she, Rhuben, Kendall, Logan, Carlos, James, Jo, Camille, Stephanie, Dak, and WayneWayne are all 18, Patrick, Noah, and Lizzie are 15, Katie is 14, and Sydney is 10.  
><strong>

**Like I said before this story focuses on the Kiley pairing as it drives the plot along, but you'll also see how Jella will get together (which you'll love, trust me) and what's up with PatKatNo. I decided not to put a lot of emphasis on Carphanie and Lomille, which is why Logan, Carlos, Dak, WayneWayne, Stephanie, and Camille are secondary characters. And Ronan, Robert, Kelly, Kacy, and Gustavo will appear again and have their own drama before the story ends.**

**So here's where you guys get to decide what happens next in the story: Should I make it that while the Jacksons are even more secluded Riley and Rhuben become more attached to the guys or that while the Jacksons become more secluded they start to act out even more.  
><strong>

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, even though it was kind of sad. I'll update again soon. **Oh and I've decided to make this 20 story chapters so there's not much left. **  
><strong>

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	13. Constant change

**.:CHAPTER TWELVE – Constant Change:.**

* * *

><p>"Wow, can you guys believe that three months has gone by that quickly?" Mrs. Knight asked as she prepared breakfast one morning. She walked over to the sheet of paper that was hanging off the see-through refrigerator and picked it up. "The Jacksons' flight should have landed by now," she looked at the boys and Katie with a bright smile. "Don't be surprised if they suddenly come barging in here, Patrick always seems to know whenever I'm cooking something."<p>

"Yeah, it should be awesome," Logan commented from where he was pacing back and forth. "Does the itinerary say _exactly_ when their plane was supposed to land?" He walked over to the counter and placed his hands in the counter, looking like he wanted to start clawing at it. "And at what airport? You know, adding in traffic and everything I want to be sure of what time they get here."

"10:00, about an hour ago," Mrs. Knight replied and looked at him strangely. "Are you ok, Logan? You look a little tense."

"Tense?" Logan gave a high-pitched laugh. "Who's tense?" He walked over to the couch, where Kendall, James, Carlos, and Katie were sitting watching TV. He drew his hands up to his mouth and started to lightly chew on his nails.

"Logan, what is the matter with you?" Katie reached up and knocked Logan's hand from his mouth. "You've been on edge ever since they left and now you're acting even more creepy than usual."

In a word, Logan was a mess. Ever since the Jacksons had gone back to Australia (like they did every three months or so) he had been having somewhat of a mental breakdown. He had insisted on calling, texting, Skyping, e-mailing, facebooking, or ScutButting one of the Jacksons every day while they were gone and if he missed a day he would freak out and immediately call them apologizing and asking what was wrong. Now, the others weren't stupid, they could tell that there was something really bothering him about them being gone, but they couldn't put a finger on it. Kendall said he was just a worrywart, James made a joke saying that he had become too attached to the family, and Carlos gave a actually smart answer by saying he just missed his best friends, especially after having not been around them for a while. They keep asking him why, but he just finds a way to swiftly change the subject, keeping them from the truth. Even Logan's girlfriend, Camille (whom he had started dating a few days after going to the amusement park with them) was starting to worry about him, he didn't care about his school work nearly as much and he would easily be roped into helping her with her acting, when he would usually try to stay away from her crazy antics that went along with it.

Carlos, as harsh as it could sound, didn't act any different since the Jacksons had left and that probably had to do with the fact that he was now dating Stephanie King. The two were always close, especially when Stephanie had tricked them into thinking that there was a Palm Woods ghost for their movie, and then going to the dance with him, their attraction to each other was always obvious. So obvious that it didn't surprised them that one night Stephanie came by, asking Carlos out on a date, claiming that she was tired of waiting for him to ask her. Of course Carlos was over the moon, as he had never been asked out on a date before, nor had he gone on a non double, triple, or quadruple date. And now here was this girl that he thought was hot, asking him out and they were going on a date alone. So he was focusing so much on that relationship, putting so much energy into it, he had almost forgotten when the Jacksons were coming back, and when he remembered he was excited, knowing that he was going to get into a lot of trouble and crazy antics with Patrick and Noah, and try to get out of it with Riley and Rhuben (who usually made it worse) and then fixed it in a fun way with Sydney. He was probably the only one out of the four guys and Katie that didn't particularly favor one Jackson over the other.

James, on the other hand, was ecstatic that they were coming back to LA for two reasons, the main reason being that he was going to be able to see Rhuben again. While they were gone, he had casually sent her e-mails, asking what was up, and they then started to continuously send e0mails back and forth to each other talking about everything from music to books to their favorite foods and their pet peeves. He wouldn't say that they were dating; he even went to ask Logan if it was ok if he asked her out. He was wary about it at first; even going as far as saying that he flat out wouldn't like it, but when James had asked why he was being so weird, Logan quickly changed his mind and said that he would be fine with it. But then, he had even gone and asked Dak about it, knowing that his friend had liked her for a long time and he said that it was ok, that the two of them were just friends, even though he would have strong feelings for her probably for the rest of her life. So James had asked her out for one of the few days after she got back home and she didn't tell him yes or no, actually, she didn't really respond to his question. But James being James, he just took it as a yes, started working out a bit more, and continued talking to her like he usually did.

Katie was beyond happy to know that they were coming back to LA. After being rejected by both Patrick and Noah, and talking to Lizzie about it for a while, she quickly sucked it up, saying that she was happy because she wanted to at least be friends with them rather than nothing at all. She even had a day planned where the four of them could hang out and catch up over what happened while the twin boys were gone.

Kendall, on the other hand, was probably the only person that everyone else wasn't sure whether or not he was happy that the Jacksons were coming back and of course that stemmed from the relationship that he had with Jo, while he still had obvious feelings for Riley. Kendall had accepted a date with Jo after slight hesitation, but after Jo told him that Riley said it was ok, he had continued to date her for about as long as the Jacksons had been away. If he or Jo were asked, they would say that their relationship was going fine and that they were happy, but none of the guys or Katie were convinced. Sure, they would go on dates, but Kendall never seemed to be really interested in them. Sure, they kissed and even made out in the apartment sometimes, but even Jo said it seemed like she had to force him to kiss her. Plus, there were the nightmares; they had started to become stronger and more frequent, enough so that Kendall started to talk to Logan about it, trying to figure out what they dreams meant and why they were happening so much, but they were still looking for an answer. He had started sleeping less and less, and that was starting to show in his work and in his personality, he wasn't acting the same way he usually did, although he tried hard to make sure that no one else was worried. But if they knew that almost every slight movement now caused him to flinch and back away from someone, or to cause the memories to start up all over again of the pain that his father put him through, they would be more than worried.

And it as something that he definitely didn't want.

"Nothing," Logan forced a smile and placed his hands back on his lap. "Nothing, I'm fine. See?" he pointed to his smile.

"Logan, put that smile away," James said slowly. "It's creepy, it's not helping you be convincing, and it makes me wonder why Camille decided to date you instead of me."

"You're dating Bella, kinda," Logan replied making a face. "So don't do something stupid to make her hate guys even more, it's already hard enough for her to talk to me, I don't need you to screw it up."

"I was joking, Logie." James raised an eyebrow. "Chill."

"Yeah, what's that supposed to mean, anyway?" Kendall asked, lowering the volume on the TV, turning to the smart boy. "She and Riley are your best friends and you've been calling them non-stop for the past three months. How is it hard for her to talk to you?"

Logan's eyes widened when he realized the mistake he had just made. "No reason," he replied with a shrug, trying to keep his voice steady. "They've just been busy from time to time, so I've had to call more than once."

"That doesn't make any sense," Carlos shook his head. "How does James flirting with another girl have anything to do with them being busy while being back home?" He rolled his eyes. "Duh, they're back home to work, of course they're busy."

"Unless there's something else that Logan isn't telling us," Kendall replied mysteriously, keeping his eyes locked on Logan, who started to shake under his gaze. "Out with it, Mitchell, we've known you long enough to know that you can't lie, because you can't do it under pressure." He crossed his arms over his chest. "What's going on?"

Logan looked over at Mrs. Knight, who continued to stand at the stove, cooking. He knew that she was listening to their conversation, but didn't want to butt in. She had also been worried when the Jacksons had left, he could see it in her posture and the way she went about her day, but she never said why.

Logan opened his mouth to say something, but the door was suddenly kicked in and everyone jumped, looking up at Camille as she calmly strode through the door with Dak, WayneWayne, Jo, Stephanie, and Lizzie trailing behind her.

"Kung-fu movie." WayneWayne supplied, causing the guys to nod slowly, as they backed away from Camille.

Dak laughed. "You better get used to it; her audition isn't until next month."

This earned groans from the guys and Camille rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "You won't get it until you're the ones that are as into acting as I am."

"Trust me Camille, that's not possible." Carlos replied.

Kendall laughed along with the others as Jo walked over to him, bent over on the couch, and placed a light kiss on his lips. _Just like the Spiderman kiss. _He thought to himself, giving her a small smile. But it faded when Jo took his face in her hands and looked at him with concern. _What now_?

"Kendall, you look beat, have you been sleeping?" Jo asked, turning the attention him.

"Yeah dude," WayneWayne added with a snort. "You look like you've been hit by a truck or something."

"Thanks," Kendall rolled his eyes in reply, gently moving his face from Jo's as he stood up on the couch. "I'm fine, I've been sleeping fine." He turned to Logan, giving him a sharp look. "Right, Logie?" He didn't want anyone to know or worry over his nightmares or lack of sleep. He hadn't woken up screaming for a long time, so no one needed to worry.

"Right." Logan replied with a pained smile. His cheeks were starting to hurt; he had been doing that a lot lately.

"Hello?" There was a double knock on the door and everyone turned to the sound of the voice to see Sydney standing in the doorway his siblings behind him. As usual, he had a bright smile on his face. "You lot look like you've seen the Bunyip or something."

"Finally!" Logan leapt to his feet. "I was wondering when you guys would get here. I'm so glad to see you and-"he stopped short, looking at them warily. "That's probably the most amount of black I've seen you wear in your entire life."

"Hey," Riley gave a lazy smile, slinging her arm around Logan's shoulders and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "They don't call us the DarkElements for nothing," she gave a wink when she finished her statement, causing Logan to raise his eyebrows.

It was true though, all five of them were wearing black vests, a t-shirt or tank top in their respective color with black on it, black studded belts, black jeans/shorts, and black socks and shoes. The only splash of color that seemed to be there was the streaks in their hair and their blue eyes that seemed to stand out even more due to the dark colors they were wearing. But what shocked Logan the most was that Riley and Rhuben were wearing black eye-liner as well as red/black and purple/black eye shadow smudged around their upper and lower lids. It wasn't that they didn't wear makeup before; he just hadn't seen so much of it on their faces.

That seemed to send everyone in motion as Jo, Camille, and Stephanie hurried over to Riley and Rhuben and grabbed them in hugs, so excited that they didn't even notice that the twins gave half-hearted smiles and hugs in reply, quickly get out of their grasps. Patrick and Noah talked to the guys for a few minutes, grinning as they talked about the beach and the weather and the girls, and then they moved over to Katie and Lizzie.

"Hey girls," Patrick's accented voice reached their ears. "How've you been?"

"Not nearly as good as you have been, obviously," Lizzie replied with an appreciative eyebrow raise. "Whatever they have in the water out in Australia, I need to get some of it."

"I heart that," Dak said loudly, turning to her and giving her a hard stare. "You're not going anywhere."

Lizzie rolled her eyes and waved a hand at her brother as Katie laughed. "It's just been LA over here, I've gotten a few auditions for commercials and everything, but I'm still trying to figure out a way to rule this place." She smirked. "Multi-Billionaire at 14 doesn't sound so bad for my resume."

"Impressive," Patrick replied, quirking his eyebrow.

"I'm guessing the guys haven't gotten into as much trouble with us gone," Noah added. He had obviously become secluded again, as Katie had to strain to hear what he had said, when she usually could hear him perfectly.

"Not so much," Katie pulled her hair behind her ears. "But I guess it's a good thing, I don't have to worry about being pulled into their idiotic schemes for a while." She lightly reached out and hit Patrick's arm. "Why'd you have to come back?"

Patrick grimaced, but passed it off as a smile, moving his arm away. Lizzie though, was quick to catch the movement.

"Hey, are you ok?" She asked gently. "That didn't hurt did it?"

"No, I'm just getting over a broken arm," Patrick replied smoothly. "Don't worry," he gave a wicked smile that unsettled both girls. "I'm not that easy to hurt." Beside him, Noah smiled quietly.

"So Hockey-Head how's it going with you and your better half?" Riley asked, finally turning her attention to Kendall, who was leaning against the back of the couch, his arms crossed over his chest. She made a face when she caught his appearance and then smirked. "If it's anything like your face then I would say not well." Kendall stayed silent as he looked at her. "I just threw you a line and you don't say anything back? Are you sure you're ok, Eyebrows?"

"I'm great," Kendall replied gruffly. He uncrossed his arms and rested his palms on the top of the couch. "How was Australia?"

"Good," Riley nodded once. After Riley had apologized, they didn't talk much while she had been away and that was obviously causing a strain between the two of them, as they used to be able to talk easily without any problems. "Its home, we did our music thing. Did you hear our new single Ready to Roll? Or did it not come out here yet?"

"I heard it online," Kendall replied as he continued to look at her, more like through her. "I thought it, the message, was very interesting." He said slowly and then finally smiled. "The song is awesome though, really upbeat, something you can slam dance to."

"Considering you already have trouble with choreographed dancing it doesn't surprise me that you're happy about it, Hockey-Head." Riley replied.

"Ok," Kendall suddenly licked his lips, standing up straight. "Because you always have a nickname for me, I'm going to come up with one for you that will annoy you, just to get back at you for it."

"Go ahead," Riley waved a hand. "I'm hard to annoy and you've got plenty of time to come up with one." Her eyes suddenly darkened as she looked away from him. "God knows I'm going to be around for a while anyway."

"Hey," Kendall suddenly looked concerned. "What's wrong?" His eyes slid down and he noticed a strange bruise on the side of her neck, almost completely hidden by the collar of her shirt, it looked like a finger print. "What's that?" he reached for her neck.

"Nothing," Riley slapped a hand over her neck and took a step away from him. "It's nothing."

_But it's not nothing, I'd recognize that move anywhere. Not being able to explain a bruise and nearly jumping out of your skin if someone brings attention to it…I just have to get some proof first before I call her out on it… _Kendall nodded silently, dropping his arm back down to his side.

"So Handsome, how have you been doing?" Rhuben asked as she turned over to the taller member of Big Time Rush and smirked up at him. She looked him over. "Obviously working out a little bit more," she cocked her head to the side. "If you want my advice, you may want to stop before you become a body-builder."

"Trust me, I won't get that bad," James replied slowly, not sure if he should have been offended. But he gave a charming smile. "Now, about that date that we had planned, are you still interested?"

"Yes," Rhuben replied quickly, looking over her shoulder at her brothers. "How about tonight?"

"But," James furrowed his eyebrows. "Don't you want to go home and get some sleep? Spend some time unpacking and all that, I'm sure your dad-"

"My dad is busy." Rhuben said slowly, as if measuring each word. "He won't even know I'm gone."

_Ok, what is up with her? I have never seen her so eager to go out with someone, not even those guys that have gone up to her on the street and ask her out. Something else is going on, and I don't think it has anything to do with me. _James looked at her silently.

"What?" she asked irritably.

"Nothing," James replied, shaking his head. "I just think that you should get some sleep, you should be experiencing some jet lag."

"Oh," Logan jumped into the conversation. "She can sleep here, on the couch or whatever," James gave him an odd look and Logan started to stammer. "I'm sure we have the space, we don't want them to drive home do we?" He blinked. "They could crash."

"Logan, are you sure you're-"

"I don't mean to interrupt," Mrs. Knight called loudly, grabbing everyone's attention. She looked at Riley and motioned to the phone that was in her hand. "Your father called and says that he wants you home." She looked confused as Riley looked away, rapidly running both of her hands through her hair repeatedly.

"We don't have to leave for another hour," Rhuben replied when Riley didn't say anything, taking a step closer to James and Logan. "Dad said that we could stay and hang out for a while." She looked over at Sydney, who seemed to shrink against Carlos' side, and then over at Patrick and Noah, who were standing close Katie and Lizzie.

"No," Riley spoke up, looking thoughtful. "We have to go and get some more food before we get home," she chuckled hollowly. "And you know Pat; he's so indecisive it'll take twice as long for him to decide what brand of Pop Tarts we want." She tilted her head towards the door. "So let's go, yeah?"

She waited for her brothers and sister to leave the room, before looking at the others, her gaze landing on Kendall for a second, before leaving the apartment.

"Something's different about them." Dak stated after a moment. "And I'm not just talking about their clothes."

"Yeah," Logan agreed with a heavy sigh. "You're right." _I hope that we can talk soon, I don't know how much longer I can keep this secret, and it's eating me alive._

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><p>"We're not going home or to the store are we?" Patrick asked in a murmur as they head towards the elevator.<p>

"No Patrick, we're not," Riley replied as she pushed the 'call elevator' button. "At least not right away."

"Good."

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry if it was hard to keep up with everyone's conversations with each other. Now you guys see how the Kendall and the others act after the Jacksons have been gone after 3 months. Of course Logan would be worried out of his mind, James would be happy because his semi-girlfriend is home, Kendall would be…conflicted about his relationship with Jo and Riley, Carlos would be happy he has a girlfriend, and Katie would be excited to see her best friends again. But of course with the Jacksons being with their father alone for 3 months, they would change a lot.**

**What do you think is going to happen next? I'll update again soon. Oh and listen to the song Ready to Roll by Jet Black Stare. Even though it's owned by them, I made it that it's the Jacksons' next single, listen to it, it's really good.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	14. Who's going home with you tonight?

**.:CHAPTER THIRTEEN – Who's Going Home With You Tonight?:.**

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><p>Kacy Knight watched as Kendall, Logan, Carlos, James, and Katie played a video game, screaming at the TV screen and shoving each other, jumping up and down every now and then as the game progressed. The Jacksons just sat on the couch, on the floor, in chairs, watching them, but not seeming to register what was going on.<p>

She was worried.

Hell, she was more than worried, she was afraid.

Ever since they had come back from Australia, she hadn't gone through the apartment without seeing one of the Jacksons there. That wasn't a surprise, as they were usually hanging around the Palm Woods anyway. But every time it was time for them to go home, they would try to keep from having to leave, stalling for time; a missing shoe, calling their father to ask if they could stay longer, or Sydney would start crying.

It didn't help much, and it kind of unnerved her, to see Riley and Rhuben practically glued to the hip to one of the guys. They never seemed to want to be away from them, even if they had the day off to do whatever they wanted, they immediately went to the studio with the guys. Even when Jo, Camille, or Stephanie would ask them to hang out, they would say no and say that they were busy, when in actuality they would just stay in apartment 2J.

She didn't mind that, they were like her own sons and daughters, all of Kendall's and Katie's friends were, but this was getting strange. She knew that it was really hard on Kendall, as with Riley being around all of the time; it was hard to spend time with Jo alone. But she also knew, as she made it a point to talk with her kids a lot, that he was struggling with what to do about the fact that he had feelings for both girls, didn't want to hurt either one, and was having trouble dealing with it. Add in the fact that he wasn't getting a lot of sleep, it was making him a shell of what he used to be.

It was one day when Patrick and Noah were doing homework with Lizzie and Katie at the apartment that she really started to worry. They were talking about a history test that Patrick, Noah, and Katie had taken. While Katie went to school at the Palm Woods, the Jacksons were homeschooled by Ronan, but there were times where he had meetings or emergencies to take care of at the record company, so they had to go to the Palm Woods for school.

"Patrick, don't worry, it's just one test," Katie was saying when Kacy had walked into the main area of the apartment to start lunch. "It's just one bad grade; it's not going to kill you." She reached out to pat his hand, but he pulled his arm away, putting it under the table.

"Yeah," he muttered sullenly. "That's what you think."

Kacy had moved her eyes over to Noah to see if he had any reaction, but he just kept his eyes on his notebook, silently looking back and forth from it to the textbook that was sitting next to him. Kacy didn't miss the exchange of glances between her daughter and her best girlfriend. They thought that something was going on too, but couldn't say it.

Everyone knew that something was going on, and that was partly because Logan was to blame. He had been jumpy and nervous ever since they left and now he was on the verge of psychotic. If the Jacksons didn't ever want to go home, he would jump in agreeing with them, coming up with a lame excuse as to why they should stay. And when someone else asked him why, he either couldn't come up with an answer, just look at Riley and Rhuben for help (which they didn't give), or just completely clammed up.

Since she had a suspicion, Kacy waited until the four friends had gone to the pool before going over to see what Patrick had gotten on his history test. She was surprised to see that he had failed it, since she knew that history was his best and favorite subject. Looking at Noah's and Katie's test scores, she could easily tell that he was upset because he probably got the lowest grade in the class.

She remembered that he had been staring down at the paper in his hand looking as if any second he was going to throw up. He was very bright, although he acted stupid just for laughs, and she knew that he could have aced the test without trying but this week he had been going through one of his sullen periods.

Worried, she had then called Robert over to talk to him, to see if he knew what was going on with his kids. Robert quickly agreed and had shown up, worried that his son had been doing something wrong. But when Kacy explained everything about them not wanting to go home and Patrick's failing grade, Robert immediately relaxed.

"Oh, is that all? Patrick has been bringing home failing grades every now and then for years, Riley and Rhuben aren't that much better. They just don't like school so they don't really try."

"And them being afraid to go home, what's that?" Kacy asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. She shook her head. "I can't tell you how many times I've seen it where Riley or Rhuben would immediately latch onto one of the guys' arms if they got up to go somewhere. Or Sydney would start to burst out crying whenever we said that it was time for him to go home."

"They're teenagers, when do they ever want to go home?" Robert replied with a humored chuckle. "Especially Syd, he doesn't like to be left out of things. As for Riley and Rhuben, they probably just have a crush on one of the guys and want to be around them there. It's nothing to worry about."

After that the two of them had a nice talk, with Robert being the perfect gentleman. Even though he hadn't shown any signs of lying, Kacy couldn't help but feel that he had been. Being able to tell if someone was lying, was something she'd nurtured over the few years she'd had to watch Kendall and his friends get into mild trouble. It came in handy when dealing with the excuses that any of the boys or Katie cooked up as to why they didn't have something done.

Also, it didn't sound right that he wasn't worried in the slightest. He was too relaxed. How many 10 year old boys cried when they had to go home?

Another day, when it was time for them to go home, Sydney burst out into tears again. Kacy noticed that his siblings quickly tried to calm him down, looking embarrassed and anxious, and knew right then and there that she needed to talk with one of them. Sydney would have to be it, because she knew that he hated to lie.

"Sydney, can I talk to you for a minute?" she had asked.

Rhuben had kept her hand on Sydney's arm, as if holding him back. But when he tilted his head and looked up at her, as if asking for permission, she hesitated, sighed, and then nodded, gently pushing him forward.

Kacy took his hand and led him into the room that she and Katie shared, kneeling down to his height. Sydney looked up at her, innocently. _Probably something that he learned to do to throw people off. _Kacy thought to herself as she looked at him. She was surprised to see tears in his eyes. He quickly wiped his face with the back of his hands before looking at her again.

"What's the matter, Sydney?"

"Nothing," he whispered his voice barely audible. "I just don't want to go home. I like it here."

All Kacy wanted at that moment was to draw the boy to her, hug him and tell him everything was going to be alright. After waiting for him to say something else Kacy nodded. "Alright then. But you have to go home eventually. I'm sure your father would—"

Sydney's head shot up. "No Mama Knight, please. Can't I just sleep over?" He stopped, his eyes getting wide as if he had done something he shouldn't have. He winced, curling one arm against his chest.

"It's not Friday, Sydney" Kacy reminded him gently. He and Patrick and Noah usually stayed over at the apartment on Friday's while Riley and Rhuben took Katie over to their place to have sleepovers with Jo, Camille, and Stephanie. But even that had stopped happening. "Why do you want to sleepover so badly?"

Sydney looked back down at his shoes. "Never mind. Can I go now?"

Kacy looked at him. Both arms clutching his stomach, his forehead wrinkled as if he was thinking hard.

_Or in pain_, a voice in her head whispered.

She let him go home with his siblings. But Sydney had looked back at all of them when they were going through the door, much like Riley had when they had first gotten back from Australia.

The look on the small boy's face stayed with her, haunting her thoughts. And before she knew it, she was in her room, dialing the phone.

"Blazing Phoenix Records, Ronan McGuire speaking." Ronan answered after one ring.

"Ronan, it's Kacy, can you get Kelly and Gustavo together so we can have a meeting?" Kacy shut her eyes. "There's something that we _really_ need to talk about."

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><p><strong>AN: I wanted to make this chapter somewhat about the adults, because I kind of been neglecting them, but it makes sense sine they aren't main characters in this story. You guys are going to absolutely love the next chapter, the story is almost over, only 6 chapters left, and the next ones are going to be long to be able to push in everything that I want to get done before the story ends. I'm going to be focusing on this and Life Goes On, so I can finish those before going onto something else.**

**But I do need your guys' help: I'm writing a new BTRXDE story that starts out as a T but will eventually be turned M due to violence and sex. But what I really need your help on is whether or not the Jacksons should be adopted by Ronan already when they come into the story. The way I'm thinking of the plot it can do fine either way, but I'm having trouble deciding.**

**Thanks in advance, I'll probably update again tomorrow. (If I do it once every day, this story will be done by Tuesday, November 1****st****.)**

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	15. So complicated

**.:CHAPTER FOURTEEN – Why'd You Have To Go And Make Things So Complicated:.**

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><p>"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ronan murmured to Kacy, looking at his watch. "I've seen this guy get mad before, it's not a pretty sight."<p>

"I'm sure," Kacy replied with a firm nod. "It would explain everything about their behavior before they went home and after they got back." She let out a sigh, clenching her hands into fists. "I just hope I'm wrong."

Kacy had called Ronan, Kelly, and Gustavo together into Gustavo's office at Rocque Records to talk about his sons and daughters. Kacy was sure that he was abusing them and wanted to talk to the other three about it. When they had gotten together and she had revealed her reason for bringing them together, they were shocked, like she expected, in turn, they shocked her. Ronan had told her that he thought that he was almost completely certain that he was abusing them, because he had seen him knock Noah to the ground one day while they were rehearsing a dance number and yelled and screamed and berated him if he couldn't keep up at the intense pace they were working at.

Kelly thought that he may have had anger management issues as she was out for coffee one day and had seen him in line. She didn't know what the whole commotion was, but after getting bits and pieces from the other people waiting in line, she heard that the cashier had made an off-hand comment about how young he was to have five kids (not knowing that they were adopted) after he had seen a picture of them in his wallet and Robert had turned beet read and started to yell at the cashier, demanding whether or not he was saying that Robert was a bad parent. On part of it, Kelly sympathized as it must be hard having to keep telling people that his kids weren't biologically his, but she also sympathized for the cashier as she was shaking herself, when he wasn't even screaming at her. He took the conversation to the next three levels all with one question.

Gustavo never really had a reasoning as to why he hated Robert, it was that he just 'had a bad vibe' about him when he first met him. And when he saw how competitive Robert was and how talented his kids were, with Sydney being able to do many complicated dance moves for his age, he thought that it was possible that Robert may have been pushing them too hard, but didn't say anything because he just downright hated the guy and wasn't sure if his anger would come off as jealousy.

So after the three of them had talked, they agreed to call Robert and ask him to go over to Rocque Records so they could all talk, now they were just waiting for him to arrive.

"But is this safe?" Kelly asked, nervously twisting her hands together. "If he hits his kids when he's mad, what will he do when he's mad at us?"

"That's what we're going to talk to him about," Kacy replied firmly. "We're going to sit him down and try to talk to him rationally and try to get him some help."

"Huh," Gustavo snorted. "Good luck with that, I've known the guy for years, he's as stubborn and bull-headed as they come. Even Griffin can't tell him what to do."

"That may be in part that he doesn't really work for Griffin," Ronan pointed out.

Everyone turned towards the door as it was suddenly pushed open. "Hey," Robert's eyebrows raised when he saw everyone in the room, but his easy going smile didn't fade. "What's going on? What's this impromptu meeting all about?"

"We just wanted to talk," Kelly replied slowly. "About your kids."

"What about them?" Robert's demeanor suddenly changed, he looked wary. "Did they get in trouble again? If they broke something, I'm not paying for it!"

"Relax," Gustavo barked. "They didn't break anything, at least, not that I know of, but we wanted to talk about your kids." He then moved forward and glared at Robert from behind his glasses. "Have you been hitting them?"

"What?" Robert cried.

"Gustavo!" Kacy cried.

"Hey, you were the one that said that you were worried that he was hitting them," Gustavo stated, causing Robert to turn and glare at her. "So I'm just trying to get right down to business." He turned back to Robert. "Huh? Ya scum bag? Have you been hitting them?"

"What have you been saying to people about me?" Robert roared towards Kacy, causing her to flinch and take a couple of steps back. "_I don't hit my kids_!"

"Don't yell at her man," Ronan moved in front of Kacy. "We just want to talk and try to make things right here."

"I'm don't need this," Robert turned on his heel and strode to the door.

"If you're doing anything to your kids," Ronan strode behind him. "I'll call the police and have you-"His sentence ended in a gurgle as Robert whipped around and grabbed Ronan's throat in his hands. Kelly let out a choked sob and Gustavo and Kacy stared, too shocked to move.

"You stay away from me," Robert tightened his grip on Ronan's neck, causing the older man to cry out in pain. (Remember, Robert is 3 years younger than Ronan.) "And stay away from my family."

With that, he shoved Ronan backwards, causing him to fall to the floor, and stormed out of the office, slamming the door so hard behind him that the glass in the door shattered.

* * *

><p>Jo let out a sigh before giggling, grabbing onto the fabric of Kendall's shirt and pulling him forward, kissing him again. He moved his hand up to cup her cheek as he kissed her back.<p>

Jo had invited him over to hang out that day, after she had made sure that the Jacksons were going to be in the studio all day. It wasn't that she didn't like that they were back home, but things weren't the same as they used to be. She used to be really close with all of them, especially Riley, Rhuben, and Patrick (the latter she was sure had a crush on him) but now they seemed that they would rather spend their time with Big Time Rush. Even though she hated to admit it, she was glad that for once Riley wasn't around the guys and that Kendall could come over. It was awkward whenever the three of them were around and it wasn't because of her or Riley, the two were at least civil towards each other, it was Kendall that made things awkward.

If the three of them were in the same room, he wouldn't even look at Jo let alone hold her hand or kiss her. But then there was Logan and Camille and Carlos and Stephanie who were getting closer and closer and she knew that there was a thing going on between James and Rhuben.

As soon as Kendall had gotten to the apartment they were upon each other. Kendall had managed to close and lock the door behind them, glad that Jo's father (who was a CIA agent) wasn't home, but as soon as he did Jo went for him. He had stumbled back under her weight, but then he relaxed. His arms looped around her waist and he pulled her to him, dipping his head to capture her lips with his. At first their kiss was tame, a light brushing of lips against lips with a few nibbles here and there, but then it turned wild, demanding. Jo' tongue traced his lips begging for the entrance, which he gave her after a few seconds. Their tongues danced and dueled, her lips closing around his tongue to suckle on it.

As they continued to kiss, Jo walked backwards, pulling Kendall with her as she gently lowered herself onto the couch, pulling Kendall next to him. She ran her hand over his clothed chest and stomach, mentally enjoying the feeling of his muscles under her hand, before bringing it up and rubbing his neck as she continued to kiss him.

But like most times when they made out, Kendall's mind began to wander and the kisses slowed. Jo tried to keep him engaged in it, but she was losing the battle. Frustrated, she opened her eyes and pushed away from Kendall, breathing heavily, pulling her blonde hair behind her ears.

"You're doing it again, Kendall." She stated.

"Sorry," Kendall gulped in a lungful of air. "I just keep spacing and-"

Jo held up a hand, causing him to fall silent. His chest rose and fell as he tried to catch his breath, waiting for her to say something. Jo briefly closed her eyes and then opened them again, looking at Kendall seriously. "When we kiss or make out…do you think of someone else?"

Kendall looked annoyed; he reached out onto the coffee table and grabbed his beanie, only then noticing that Jo had pulled it off when they were making out. He shook his head once, his hair falling back into place perfectly, and then slid it over his head.

"If there's something specific you want to ask me, then just ask it." He replied with a little bit of an edge to his tone.

"When we make out, do you think about Riles?" Jo asked, looking him right in the eye. "Do you think about kissing _her_?"

"No," Kendall replied simply.

"Kendall," Jo warned, raising an eyebrow. "Tell me the truth."

"I _am_ telling you the truth." Kendall insisted.

Jo pursed her lips and straightened her top before crossing her arms over her chest, leaning back against the arm of the couch. "I'm not mad or anything Kendall, I just want to know." She said softly. "Because we all know that before she left you really liked her, for a long time. I don't know if she felt the same way, or if she knew. And now whenever she's around when I am, you don't touch me or kiss me. And she seems to be hanging off of you guys more than usual."

"So what?" Kendall wiped his hands on his pant legs, then crossed and uncrossed his legs. "She just came back from Australia, all of them did, they've been gone for three months! They're our friends, they're in the music business, they were around us all the time before, and they're around us all the time now."

"But it's different now," Jo insisted. "They don't want to hang out with me or Steph or Camille anymore. They're only around you. If she's not with Logan, she's with you."

"Are you trying to say you're jealous or something?" Kendall asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is that it? Because I've seen you jealous before, but there's nothing for you to be jealous about now."

"But everyone here can see that you only had eyes for her before."

"Yes, and now I only have eyes for you." Kendall said, although when he looked away from her it debunked his statement.

"What's going on, Kendall?" Jo asked, changing the subject. Kendall didn't answer. "I know there's something wrong. You're not sleeping well, you're not eating as much as you used to, you're on edge all of the time, you keep snapping at everybody-"

"That's because no one will leave me alone!" Kendall said.

"And every now and then you flinch when someone raises their voice, you get angry for no reason, you're frustrated easily. You lock yourself in your room all the time; you're constantly on your laptop when we want to hang out. Even Logan is acting weird, but you're acting weirder than he is."

"Nothing's going on." Kendall's fingers started to twitch. "And who told you that I haven't been sleeping? Did Logan tell you?" Kendall demanded, his eyes turning back to hers. "Did he?"

"No!" Jo shook her head. "No one needed to tell me." She reached out and touched Kendall's shoulder, knowing not to say anything when he flinched under her touch. "I'm still your friend, Kendall." She said gently. "Tell me what's wrong."

She wasn't sure if he was going to reply. He kept cracking his knuckles and crossing and uncrossing his legs. It seemed that he couldn't sit still, no matter how hard he tried.

"I'm not sure if I'm right," Kendall started in a low voice. "But I think that something's going on at their home."

"The Jacksons' home?" Jo asked, raising an eyebrow. Kendall nodded. "What do you mean?" She looked concerned.

"I can't say more than that," Kendall rubbed his chin. "Because I don't have any proof, and I only have theories so…" he looked away again.

_Unless he __does__ know something and he's hiding it. _Jo flipped her hair over her shoulder. _But why would he hide it? Duh, Jo, to protect them. You know that he's better friends with them then he is with you, especially since they're all in the music business together. And you do know that out of the five of them Riley and Sydney are his favorites. If there was something that he needed to protect them for he would do it. You know what they say always protect…your loved ones…_

"Do you love her?" Kendall looked at Jo in confusion, as if not registering that she had even said anything, so Jo asked again. "Kendall, do you love her?" Kendall stayed silent and looked away again. Jo shook her head. "Go." She lightly pushed his leg. "Just go."

"What?" Kendall's eyebrows shot up. "Jo?"

"Just leave, Kendall." Jo insisted, continuously pushing his leg.

"Jo, you're not being-"

"Kendall, I need to know." Jo replied shortly, standing up and tugging him to his feet. "I need to know if you still have feelings for her or if you love her, because if you do, I don't want to stand in the way of true love." She then pushed him towards the door. "So go talk to her, or kiss or something."

"Jo," Kendall planted his feet on the ground and whirled so he was looking at her. He was partially surprised to see that she didn't really look that upset. "I don't get it. I mean, I do like you, a lot-"

Jo waved a hand. "Come talk to me after you see her." She forced a smile. "Either way it's going to work out for someone. We won't know who or that someone will be until we figured everything out so you should go." She reached over onto the coffee table and grabbed a set of keys and tossed them to Kendall.

He caught them without batting an eye. "Fine," Kendall sighed heavily, hesitated, and then turned and left the apartment, gently closing the door behind him. He waited outside the door for a few minutes, listening, and when he didn't hear anything he finally left. Once he was outside of the Palm Woods and heading towards the Big Time Rush Mobile he stopped. "I don't know where she lives." He spoke out loud.

It was true, he had never seen her house, never been in it. And Katie was the only one that had ever slept over with Riley and Rhuben, but it was usually at Jo's apartment that they slept over, or they were at Ronan's apartment, Riley and Rhuben each giving a easy excuse: They didn't want to bother their dad with too much noise, Ronan was going to be gone for the night anyway, it would take too long for them to drive to their house with the traffic.

_Everything that I did to keep my friends from going to my house. _Kendall mused to himself as he thought about what to do. _I hope to god they're not being abused like I was, but I won't know until I find out._

* * *

><p>Kendall rang the doorbell and waited, rubbing his hands over his pants legs as he waited for the door to open. When it did, he looked up and couldn't help but smile when he got a good look at Riley. Her hair was pulled back into its pigtails, like usual, and she was wearing a red flannel shirt over a tank-top that reached an inch past her belly button, the top of a tattoo peeked out over the top of her black jeans. But what made him really smile was that she was wearing glasses rather than contacts. He didn't know why, but it just made her very attractive to him.<p>

"What are you doing here?" she gaped at him in her accent, her eyes darting around. "How did you…we never told you where we lived."

"It wasn't hard to find," Kendall replied with a shrug. "I mean, once I figured out your dad's contact information due to the fact that he's your manager and all that," he waved a hand. "Blah, blah, blah. Can I come in; I want to talk to you?"

"Uh," Riley looked around again and then took a step back. "Sure, but hurry up, my dad will be home soon." Kendall entered the house and Riley looked outside before closing the door behind him. "Sorry about the smell," she apologized as she walked into the living room. She motioned to an easel in the corner of the room. "I was just painting."

"It's cool," Kendall replied with a short nod.

"So what is it?" Riley flopped down onto the couch and propped her legs up onto the coffee table in front of her. "What did you want to talk about?"

_Way to get right to the point. _Kendall flopped down onto the couch, sitting right next to her, their arms touching. "Well, I was just with Jo and we were talking and she seems to think that…" he cleared his throat. "That I have feelings for you."

"You told her you don't right?" Riley asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Kendall nodded. "But she didn't really listen to me, so she sent me over here to find out whether or not I _do_ have feelings for you." He looked over at Riley and saw that her eyes were narrowed behind her glasses. He was so close he could see a light smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks.

"What does that mean?" she asked slowly.

Kendall moved suddenly, causing her to flinch. _The sme thing I do. _He then leaned towards her. "Hold still,"

"What are you doing?" Riley looked away from Kendall as he reached towards her, scooting all the way to the end of the couch in one movement.

"I just want to see something," Kendall scooted to the end of the couch as well.

"Don't," Riley leapt off of the couch and backed away, rounding the coffee table that was in the middle of the living room.

"Don't what?" Kendall looked amused as he followed her around the table. "I don't get it."

"I know what you were going to say and don't say it," Riley warned, picking up her pace. Kendall sped up as well and the two continued to round the table over and over again.

"I can't help the way I feel." Kendall explained.

"You're with Jo." Riley reminded him.

"So?" Kendall opened his stride and moved closer.

"Don't come any closer!" Riley darted behind he recliner, holding onto the back of it so tight her knuckles turned white. Her hands were shaking and her heart was pounding so hard against her ribcage it made her feel sick.

"You know you're acting like a baby?" Kendall laughed and stretched lazily. He swiftly brought his hands down to his hips when he saw that Riley was about to make a break for the stairs. "Riles!"

"Don't," Riley warned again, holding up a finger.

"Riley?"

"Stop!" Riley slapped her hands over her ears.

"Riley!"

"Shut up!"

Kendall was laughing now, but it wasn't because he found the situation to be funny, he found it ridiculous. He was laughing so hard tears were falling down his cheeks. As he wiped them away, more would come to take its place. "You really are ridiculous, you know that?" he stated when he calmed down enough to speak.

"It's part of my charm." Riley cracked.

Kendall then smirked, his eyes flashing. "You know when you say things like that it gets me hot and bothered," Riley's face enflamed as she babbled, trying to say something. "Wow, I didn't think saying something like _that_ would make you that embarrassed."

"Shut up!" Riley hissed, her eyes narrowing. She jabbed her finger towards the door. "Get out!"

"No," Kendall replied calmly. "I'm not leaving."

"Why?" Riley slowly inched out from behind the couch and moved towards him. Her eyes kept darting towards the stairs. _Just a few more seconds and you can high-tail it out of here. _"It's my house, I asked you to leave."

"Yeah, but I'm your guest, I'll leave when I want." Kendall reminded her.

Riley looked at him for a split second before darting to the left, taking off towards the stairs. Kendall reached out and grabbed her around the waist, easily dragging her backwards. "Let go of me, Kendall!" She started to thrash wildly, trying to get out of his grasp. "LET GO!" She kicked her legs, trying to propel herself forward, but Kendall held on tight. "Kendall!"

Kendall pushed her back and grabbed onto her hands, holding onto them tightly. Riley moved her hands to the side of her face, and put her right foot back, pulling back as hard as she could, trying to get Kendall to let her go.

"Just hold still!" Kendall yelled into her face, causing her eyes to immediately slam shut. "Please," he lowered his voice, softened it. He waited a few seconds and Riley's eyes slowly opened. "I just want to see something." He took a step forward so their feet were touching. "Please?"

Riley just continued to look up at him, her eyes glassy.

Kendall tilted his head slightly and brushed her lips with his. As soon as their lips touched, the hairs on the back of Kendall's neck stood on edge; it felt like he had just stuck his finger in a light socket. Then he looked into her stunning blue eyes and he kissed her again but this time it was a more passionate kiss. He caressed her soft cheek with his thumb. She was hesitant at first, but then she melted into his arms and slipped her arms around his neck. They were totally oblivious to everything except each other. Kendall lost control of all coherent thoughts and concentrated only on his lips on hers and Kendall's hand running through her hair, pulling her closer. She felt a million wonderful sensations zinging through her senses, the kiss got deeper, hungrier as he pulled her tighter to him.

Kendall made a sound when his nose hit her glasses and he pulled away for a second. Frowning, he pulled back and reached up, pulling her glasses off of her face, and tossed it onto the couch beside him. "That's better," he said before pulling her in and kissing her again.

Riley's left hand rubbed Kendall's neck, like Jo had done a few hours before, then slid up to the blonde hair at the back of his head. She lightly tugged on the strands of hair and then ran her fingers over the base of his head repeatedly. Kendall let out a moan, kissing her harder. It was something that she did to Logan, to relax him (and partly because it was a comforting gesture) and when she did it while she and Kendall were kissing, it just made the experience ten times more pleasurable.

He moved his hands down from her hair and to her wrists. Eyes still closed, he walked forward, causing her to walk backwards until her back hit the wall behind her. He then gathered both of her hands in his and extended them up. He had her pinned against the wall with his hands pinning her wrists above her head and his body pinned hers, keeping her pretty much immobile.

Pushing her head forward, Riley bit his lower lip, not hard enough to hurt but enough to get his attention. A low growl came from his chest as he crushed her lips with his. Riley moaned as his tongue forced her mouth open, his free hand pulling her against him until their hips touched. He tasted of peppermint and she of strawberries.

An interesting combination.

Abruptly the sound of the front door being slammed shut brought Riley back to reality, she blinked and jerked away from Kendall, moving to grab her glasses, before turning to face her father, who glared at the two of them.

"Uh," Kendall's mouth dropped open.

"Hi dad," Riley squeaked.

"We were just, uh," Kendall quickly tried to think of something to say, but one look on Robert's face caused him to clam up. "I was just leaving." He looked at Riley, who stared at her father, shaking. "Bye," he practically sprinted towards the front door, leaving the house as soon as possible.

The shouting started as soon as he closed the door.

"_What did you think you were doing you little slut?"_

"_Dad, I wasn't-"_

"_Shut up!"_

There was a loud smacking sound, a cry of pain, and then the sound of a heavy beating filled the air, accompanied by Riley's shouts of pain and her sobbing.

Kendall stood beside the door, eyes closed tightly.

A few tears trickled from the corners of his eyes. _I'm sorry, Riley. I had to do it._

* * *

><p>"The water's warm," Rhuben noted as she walked over to the wet sand, allowing the water to rise over her feet. She smiled at the familiar feeling of the sand being pulled out from under her feet. "It would be cool to swim in."<p>

She had been at the beach by herself, walking along, using some of the few moments by herself just to think. _How much longer can we keep this a secret? I can tell that Logan is about to crack soon. Kendall may be figuring things out as well. I wonder if we'll have to move again?_

She had been lost in her thoughts when James had run up to her and flashed a smile. They got to talking, and then ended up just walking about the beach in silence, enjoying each other's company.

"So why don't we?" James suggested.

Rhuben nearly choked on her spit as she turned to James, who had started to pull off his shirt. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious," James replied with a grin, tossing his shirt aside, his hands moving towards the buckle of his pants. Rhuben quickly turned away.

"We don't have swimsuits," she pointed out.

"So we'll go skinny dipping," James replied, his laughter accompanied with the sound of his pants dropping to the ground.

"I am _not_ going skinny dipping." Rhuben replied firmly. "Not with your or anyone else for that matter!"

"Relax, I was joking," James walked over to Rhuben and placed a hand on her shoulder, blinking as she flinched and roughly pulled her shoulder away from him, taking three steps away. "Just go swimming in your underwear." Rhuben didn't reply. "You _are_ wearing underwear, aren't you?" James added, after her silence. He dodged backwards as Rhuben whipped around, aiming to punch him in the stomach.

"I'm not going skinny dipping, James." She repeated, the wind blowing her hair from her face. She pulled it away, glaring at him. "I'm not going swimming in my underwear either!"

"Well, then you're going to have to wait for me to get done before I take you back to your house." James said, placing his hands on his hips, his fingers creeping towards the waistband of his boxer shorts. "Because I'm going swimming."

Rhuben moved a hand up in front of her eyes. "Geez James, you-"

"Gotcha!" James laughed and with a whoop, he turned and splashed into the surf before diving over a wave.

Rhuben sighed and shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest as James swam around, splashing water as he went, obviously putting up a show, trying to persuade Rhuben to go into the water with him. "Having fun?" she called, when James stood up, the water going up to his thighs.

"A blast," James called back, taking a few steps closer. Rhuben cursed herself as she watched the water trickle down his shoulders and down his stomach. "But I'd be having more fun if you were in here with me." His smile widened, like he could read her mind.

"Not happening," Rhuben replied firmly.

"What? Are you scared?" James taunted, his smile not fading.

_Yeah, I'm scared to death that my dad is going to pop up somewhere and try to drown me, like he tried before. _Rhuben continued to stare at James. _But of course I can't say that. _As she continued to watch, James waved a hand into the air and waved her into the water. Rhuben groaned, tilting her head back and looking up at the night sky, and then looked at the water again.

"You know, you really need to lighten up."

_It's just like you're wearing underwear. _Rhuben thought to herself before pulling off her shirt. _Good thing it's dark. _She hesitated before pulling off her black jeans and ran forward, splashing in the water, waiting for a wave to break, and then dove into the water, allowing it to wash over her.

"Took you long enough," James commented as soon as she surfaced beside her. "I thought that I was going to have to start singing until I got you out here."

Rhuben made a face and moved her arm through the water, splashing him with a small wave. "That would only work if you had a bad singing voice." She remarked.

James sputtered, shaking his head so water moved off of his face. "So, Beautiful, are you saying I have a good singing voice?" he asked with a grin, treading water.

"You already know that you have one, or you wouldn't be out here, Handsome." Rhuben returned and then sputtered as James splashed her with a wave of water. She spat a mouthful out, tasting salt. "You're going to pay for that one." She declared and started to rapidly splash him with water.

James swam back a little bit and splashed her back.

Soon, the two were laughing hysterically as they splashed each other with water. Rhuben turned her head, shielding her face from wave after wave James sent her way. But when she turned back, thinking he was done, he splashed her again, getting water in her eye.

"Ow!" She cried, immediately closing her eye. "I've got salt water in my eye!"

"Ooh," James grimaced and swam closer to her. "Sorry, I'm sorry." He raised a hand and wiped water off of her face. "That must kill." He remarked.

"Eh, the pain's going away," Rhuben said after a second, her facial features relaxing. She slowly opened her eye and then looked up when she noticed how close James was to her. As they continued to tread water, their feet, hands, legs, and arms gently brushed by each other.

James slowly moved closer to Rhuben, keeping his eyes on hers. He moved his hands up out of the water and lightly placed them on her cheeks. When she didn't move or make a sound to tell him to stop, he closed the gap between them and kissed her.

He was accordingly rough when compared to his personality. His mouth pressed hard against hers. His hands were tangled within her hair, pushing her face back to get easier access of Rhuben's already parted lips. His tongue traced the tiny crack in her bottom lip before slipping in. It was perfect, in every sense of the word, absolutely perfect. ..

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm not trying to do any Jo bashing in this story, but I feel that I kind of am without meaning to. So let me know what you think of that please. Wooooooow, things sure got steamy in this chapter. Soooooo what did you guys think? Was it hot? Did you like the way that I made it that Kendall had to chase Riley around because she knew what he was going to say/do? I laughed when I thought of it and knew that it had to be done. I hope it was because I planned it that way. Hahaha. **

**This chapter focused more on Kiley (of course) the next one focuses more on Jella. - Speaking of which, I know the Jella thing kind of seemed abrupt and odd, but it'll be explained more in the next chapter.**

**I'll update again soon.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	16. When you love, you're not alone

**.:CHAPTER FIFTEEN – When You Love, You're Not Alone:.**

**WARNING- Sexual content in this chapter**

* * *

><p>James couldn't keep a smile off of his face. No matter what he did, he was grinning as wide as he could, Gustavo found it creepy (when he wasn't too busy being distracted), Kendall was too busy to notice, Carlos was constantly asking why he had the smile and when James wouldn't tell him he started to guess over and over again (not that he would be able to get it right) and Logan…well, he was still acting really weird. Now he would excuse himself at practically any moment he had alone and would go over to see the Jacksons, not letting the others come with him (which caused even more eyebrow raises.) He was still smiling when he headed towards Palm Woods Park, and spotted a familiar head of raven hair.<p>

He hurried into the bathroom and checked his reflection, pulling his hair, finger-coming it, and shaking his head to mess it up a few times before checking his armpits and checking his breath. Then he took a deep breath and left the bathroom again and walked over to Rhuben.

"Hey Beautiful," his voice cracked with nervousness and he cleared his throat as Rhuben looked up at him, her blue eyes meet his hazel ones. "What's going on?" He plopped down into the chair across from her.

"I'm waiting for Logie," Rhuben replied as she looked back down at the pack of papers she had in her hand. "He wanted me to look over his paper for him and I was meeting him to talk to him about it." She looked at her watch. "Have you seen him?"

"No," James shook his head and then looked curious. "He said that he was going over to meet up with you guys."

"Oh," Rhuben looked panicked for a second. "He must have run into Riles then, she's at the studio and Pat, No, and Syd are hanging out with Katie and Lizzie." She then let out a sigh.

"Are you ok?" James peered at her closely. "You looked stressed about something." He paused. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm not in the mood, James." Rhuben said, looking over the sheets of paper again.

"Ok," James shrugged and moved to get up from the chair.

"Ok?" Rhuben repeated, stopping him, with one lowered eyebrows and one raised eyebrow. "What do you mean 'ok'?"

"You just said you're not in the mood to talk," James replied with a shrug. "And you don't want to talk. No offense to Logan, because I know he's your very best friend, but he's not smart enough to know that when you want to be left alone, you want to be left alone. So I'll just get out of your way and we can talk later."

Rhuben waited silently as James started to walk away. She let out a sigh and rested her cheek in her hand. "Wait," she called after him and then let out a chuckle when he turned back around, grinning. "Come here." She waved him back over and he sat in the chair next to her. "I assume that there was something specific you wanted to talk about?"

_No way, _James thought to himself as he pressed his lips together. _I don't want to have to be the one to bring this up; I want __you__ to be the one to say it. I know what you want to talk about; you want to talk about the fact that I kissed you yesterday._

"No," James shook his head. "Not in particular," he peered at her. "What about you, Beautiful?"

"No," Rhuben shook her head as well. But he noticed a small blush rise up on her cheeks and couldn't help but smile a little. She noticed and glared at him. "What are you smiling at?" _If he's thinking about our kiss yesterday, why isn't he saying anything?_ Rhuben didn't like tension, she didn't like nervous tension, she didn't like…whatever tension it was that she was feeling between her and James. Whenever there was something that was bothering someone, she usually just came right out and said it, but after what happened before, she couldn't say what she wanted to say.

"I'm smiling at you," James replied and flashed his pearly whites and then leaned forward. "So, what happened to that date that we were supposed to go on?"

"I've been busy," Rhuben replied shortly and grimaced as she rubbed her neck and shoulders.

"You ok?"

"I'm fine!"

"So, you're not busy now, you've just said that Logan is hanging out with Riley, so let's go on that date now." James leaned forward and gently tapped her on the knee. "I'll pay."

"That's tempting," Rhuben replied slowly.

"Come on, I know you want to say yes." James wheedled.

Rhuben sighed and put her papers down. "If I say 'yes' will you stop begging?" She raised an eyebrow. "It's kind of pathetic."

"I have no shame," James replied with a shrug.

"I noticed," Rhuben replied evenly. "Fine, where are you taking me?"

"To the park," James said. "Not the Palm Woods Park," he added when he saw the look on her face. "But the park, they have a carnival going on and I thought that it would be fun." He jumped to his feet. "So let's go," he grabbed Rhuben's hand and dragged her out of her chair. "We don't want to miss any of the rides."

He wedged his fingers into hers as they went, feeling a spark shoot up his arm as he did so.

But what got him smiling again was when she relaxed enough to lean into his side.

* * *

><p>"Well," James, as they walked out of the park later, "that was fun." He ran his hands over his soaked hair, letting it form back into its usual messy cut. He shook his head back and forth, causing rain water to fly everywhere.<p>

"Fun?" Rhuben snorted. "How was that fun in way? The rides were closed-"

"Because it rained."

"I'm soaked."

"Because it rained."

"The apple pie I was going to eat was ruined-"

"They held a pie eating contest in the middle of an open field park, so that's to be expected…_since it rained_…"

Rhuben groaned, clearly annoyed. "You're giving me the irrits." At James' blank look she smirked. "You're annoying me," she clarified.

"And you look very pretty, dear." James grinned back mischievously. Then he sniffed her soaked dress. "But you stink."

Rhuben blushed for a moment, before her look of cute embarrassment turned into red faced anger. "That's because I was splashed by mud!" She lightly shoved him in the chest Rhuben flinched as James suddenly turned to her, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Come on, I want to show you something."

* * *

><p>"Wow," Rhuben whispered in awe. "It's beautiful."<p>

"I come up here to think. It was my favorite spot," James explained, as Rhuben continued to be mesmerized by the beauty of the view of the sunset from on top of the apartment building. "Just after it rains, the rainbow envelopes the sunset. The colors are amazing."

James looked at his Rhuben's reaction to his spot on the roof of the Palm Woods with a lighthearted feeling of triumph in his heart. Finally, something that had gone right on this date-at least, what she qualified as 'having gone right.' Looking at her reaction…the way her dark blue eyes turned soft and expectant; with the narrowest hint of a smile on her face…she looked so unlike her usual self.

So beautiful.

"Are you alright, Handsome?" she asked, snapping him out of his reverie.

James blinked, and then laughed. "Yeah, I was just thinking." He walked her to the edge, taking her hand and holding it tightly, with her squeezing back. "I'm sorry this date was such a disaster for you. I really didn't want things to turn out this way," he admitted. He had been laughing his head off at the way things had gone wrong, but she had looked so upset. "I wanted you to enjoy yourself, you know?"

"I _did_ enjoy myself," she said. This time, she was the one laughing. "I know I was pretty upset with the way things went wrong so often, but it was funny."

"It was awesome," James smiled and tucked her strand of purple hair behind her ear. "Because I got to spend the day with you." Rhuben's face turned red, but she stayed silent, turning her head to the side, so her dark hair covered her face. James took a look at the sunset again and then abruptly turned on his heel. "Let's go to the apartment," he suggested. "The other guys are gone so we'll have it to ourselves."

They watched TV for a while. Rhuben was tense for the most part, her arms were crossed over her chest and she seemed to be looking at her watch every few minutes.

"Would you relax?" James asked, reaching out and pulling her arm down from her face. "Your brothers are out with Katie and Lizzie and they're going to be hanging there all day, and you said that Riley was at the studio with Ronan as she was the only one that had to do vocal work. You have the day off, your dad isn't going to come looking for you."

"What makes you think that I'm worried about my dad?" Rhuben asked, raising her eyebrows as she looked back at him. The back of her mind noticed that he hadn't let go of her arm, but she didn't say anything, the touch made her feel comforted.

"Anyone can notice that you guys are jumpy around him," James stated as he raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to pressure you into telling me why, because I'm going to wait for you to tell me. I just want you to know that when you do tell me, I appreciate that you did, and I'll help however I can."

Rhuben looked at him for a few moments, causing James to feel a little nervous as she continued to look at him. _Did I say something wrong? Oh, I hope that I didn't offend her or something._

"Thank you," Rhuben replied in almost a whisper and then turned back to the TV.

"You're welcome," James replied with a slight grin and leaned back, moving his hand from her wrist and settled back against the couch again.

Over the course of watching TV, the unfamiliar silence of the apartment wrapping around them, Rhuben relaxed even further. The two snuggled close together; everything seemed right, complete..., almost. Neither of them was bored, but they weren't sure what to say.

There was a certain tension between them that had been building between then, ever since they had gone swimming together and someone had to break it first. Rhuben turned her head and opened her mouth to say something to him and jumped when she saw that he had been looking back at her, as if he had been watching her for a while. He looked back at her lovingly, gently, as he had always done but now there was another look added to it, his eyes were darker and the way that he was looking at her made her feel slightly uncomfortable.

He leaned slightly to kiss her sweetly; she received and kissed back with more passion than him. He gave low moan and put his passion into the kiss as well. Rhuben's cheeks flushed and after a moment she dared to let her tongue flicker over his lips for an instant, which seemed to excite him. His tongue swirled around hers expertly in a heated fever. The kiss lead to touching, his hand cautiously felt its way up and down her body, following every curve and eventually landing on her breast.

She broke the kiss and backed away quickly, her eyes wide, slowly bringing her knees up to her chest. "Don't worry," James moved to lean over her. "I'm not going to hurt you; I'm not going to rush you." He reached out and placed a hand gently on her cheek, she closed her eyes at his touch and he could feel her shaking. "Beautiful, listen," he gently cupped her cheeks in both of his hands. "I know that you've dated jerks before, but I want you to know that unlike them, I really care about you and I don't want anything to happen to you. Do you…want me to stop…because I will, we can just watch TV."

Rhuben continued to look at him as she continued to shake. She watched James as he watched her. She could tell that he meant what he said, and that really comforted her. She had never met or dated any guy like him, who really cared about what she wanted and that she was ok before going too far. Every other guy she had dated tried to pressure her to go further than making out and that scared her more than her father's beating her. The feeling of their hands on her as they tried to force her to do what she didn't want, the idea of them just being with her because of her fame caused her to be very cautious. But with James, she felt different, but still cautious. And now here he was, saying that he wouldn't rush her, wouldn't do what she wanted…

James watched the different emotions move through Rhuben's eyes. He could see them all: Fear, Uncertainly, willingness, and…the last one he couldn't place. He wasn't sure if it was the emotion of love, it could quite possibly be that, he knew that she had a crush on him when they first met, but over the past year and a half he had gotten to know her, the signs that she had given him had slowly gone away, and now that she had come back, she acted completely different, almost dependant on being around one of the guys all the time. He knew how he felt about her, he knew that he loved her, he knew the day that he had gone to the beach and spotted her there and when they had gone swimming and they had kissed…he knew it deep in his heart.

Looking at her again, as if asking for permission, James moved forward only to ravage Rhuben's lips with another furious kiss. He continued to kiss her as she slowly, _very slowly _relaxed, putting her arms around his neck. She let out a moan as he started to massage her gently. Her hands found their way to his chest, she ran her fingers up and down his body, following every muscle, and she could feel his restraint as he fought to keep himself from mounting her too quickly. After a minute she got up and started to walk towards his bedroom, keeping her head up and eyes forward as she did so. She heard James following behind her, his footsteps moving quickly. He slipped into the room behind her and gently closed and locked the door.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" James asked, still breathing heavily from their make-out.

Rhuben finally looked at him and nodded. "Y-Yeah," she replied slowly and then took a deep breath, giving a small, shy smile. "Yeah, I'm sure." With that, she reached up her hands and started to unbutton her purple polo shirt.

James got the hint and undressed her quickly, laying kisses down her neck and onto her breast, while his hand found its way between her legs, gently lying her down on his bed. Rhuben gasped as he touched her soft mound. She had never felt anything like the heat that was rolling through her, this was her first time and she couldn't believe that she wasn't more nervous. James slipped a single finger into her wet core. The feeling of being penetrated made her blush furiously, but she enjoyed every sensation that crashed through her like waves. The feeling of him lightly suckling on her breast, his hand on the small of her back, locking her into place as his other hand worked inside her. But being so gentle…

He slipped another finder inside her and skillfully used his thumb to toy with her sex. Rolling it around and side to side, up and down, finding the combination to her orgasm expertly. Rhuben moaned as the orgasm slammed into her, making her buck into his hand, and arch her back. When she calmed, she looked down to find his dark hazel eyes staring back at her with a new fire in them that she found both shocking and exciting. When she tried to pull him closer to her, he spread her legs and mounted her, his clothes still on. Rhuben reached up and kissed him again, with all the passion she had, trying to tell him she was ready. He must have already known because as he lay on top of her, she felt his hardness against her inner thigh. She blushed as her hand found its way to his erection.

When she touched him, he jerked slightly in shock, but let her do what she pleased. Soon she was tired of handling him, when all she wanted was him inside of her. She started to tug on his underwear and pull them down. He pulled back from her and took his clothes off himself and grabbed a condom, sliding it on. His chest, his arms, his abs…When she saw his erect member, she blushed horribly; he was rather large, around 7 inches long and a good size around. She had never seen him naked before, but seeing him now made her yearn for him more. She laid back and opened her legs for him, patiently waiting for him to be ready, trembling.

It didn't take long before he mounted her again.

"Before I do this," James whispered as he rested his forehead against hers. "Are you _absolutely_ sure you want to? Because we don't have to, you know I won't force you to do anything you're not comfortable with." he paused. "And because I assume you're a virgin."

Rhuben's eyebrows lowered. "You're not?" she questioned. James shook his head.

"I don't have any diseases or anything either," he added quickly. "I made sure when I had sex before…and well," he quickly looked down. "I have a condom so-"

She simply pulled him to her and kissed him feverishly, catching him off guard. It was a short, heated kiss that told him exactly what he needed to know. To make sure he knew what she wanted, she whispered into his ear. "I want you inside me, James, I'm sure. Please don't make me wait."

After hearing that he didn't seem to wait, he slowly sheathed himself inside her, stretching her carefully. He stopped, afraid of hurting her, waiting for a sign. Her moans of pleasure told him he wasn't hurting her. He moved carefully in and out of her velvet core. She dug her nails into his back as he pumped inside her increasingly faster and faster. He moaned as she tightened around him. His ecstasy made her moans more excited. Their breath grew heavy and heated as he pumped faster and harder. Time seemed to slow with him inside of her, she felt complete. She felt whole, and his ecstasy made things even better. He quickly found her g spot over and over again with every thrust into her. Every movement brought her closer and closer to that final moment. It came on so quickly that when it hit she was thrown by it. Her core closed on him as she came sending him into his own orgasm. She arched and bucked in time with him as they went over the edge together.

The orgasm seemed to go on and on for both of them.

When they were both still, breathing heavily laying side by side, they knew that they were both whole, they were complete as a partnership. Rhuben rolled gently into James, who held her close to his heart. He gently kissed her cheek, running his fingers over her back, frowning when he caught sight of a few scars.

_I shouldn't ask her about those, _James thought as his eyes fluttered shut. _Not now. Not when everything, for this moment, is perfect._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There you go a chapter that's completely focused on Jella. (For shotinthedark I was planning it all along ;) ) So for a 'T' rated story, I'm not going to be like a lot of writers and explain every single (and sometimes in my opinion) gross/pervy detail you needed to know about Jella having sex. I'm not sure if I made them too out of character in this chapter though, I feel like I have and then I'll probably go back and re-edit it later. Please let me know what you think of the lead up to it, because I feel that it was kind of weird and I couldn't exactly explain the lead up to it the way I wanted to. Like, it didn't come out the way I really wanted, but I tried my best.**

**Also, stupidly enough, I don't know how much time I made pass between this chapter and the last one, so maybe it was a couple of days, or maybe it's the next day. Whatever floats your boat, it works both ways. I know there's not a lot of Patrick, Katie, Noah, or Sydney in this, but they'll appear again towards the end of the story.**

**The next chapter is where the climax of the story comes to a head. You'll figure out what Kendall's dreams mean and you'll find out why I've decided to name this story I'm With You and how that song accurately depicts what the story is about, and you'll find out why Riley ran away from Kendall when he was at her house. If you still want to guess to try and guess before you know, listen to the song a few times as well as re-reading the prologue. I hope you liked the Jella in this chapter.**

**Oh and for that other story, thanks for the help trying to decide whether or not they should be adopted. What I'm trying to figure out now is whether or not they should already know BTR. At first I had it where they didn't know them, but now I'm not exactly sure, so help there would be grateful too.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	17. Lost and Found

**.:CHAPTER SIXTEEN – Lost and Found:.**

**Listen to the song 'I'm With You' when you read this chapter, I'll let you know when to start playing the song.**

**Warning: Sexual content in this chapter**

* * *

><p>"I'm going to the store!"<p>

It's what Riley had called to her siblings when she left her house, but she wasn't going to the store. She was going to the Palm Woods. Not to see Kendall, but to see Jo. They needed to talk.

"Hey," Jo looked a little surprised when she opened her apartment door and saw Riley standing on the other side. "What are you doing here?" She then gave a smile as she opened the door wider, seeming to miss the glare on Riley's face. "Do you want to come in? I was just about to watch-"

"Why'd you do that?" Riley interrupted, not bothering to answer the greeting. "Why'd you make Kendall go over to my house? I know that you did it! _Why_!"

"Riley, calm down." Jo merely looked at Riley as she yelled at her. "I just needed to know something." She explained. "And it's a good thing I did send him over there, it needed to be done Riles, he lov-"

Riley slapped her hands over her ears. "I know that you wanted to help Jo, but you just made things worse!" Her anger rose. "DO YOU GET THAT? YOU JUST RUINED EVERYTHING!" With that, she turned on her heel and stormed back down to the lobby.

On her way out the door she spotted Kendall. When he saw her, he looked embarrassed and guilty. Riley's eyes narrowed and then they widened when she got a good look at his face.

_Oh my god, he knows_. She thought to herself.

Then she was running, ignoring Kendall's calls after her.

* * *

><p>"So, we're going to tell the others what's going on," Sydney looked skeptical and worried as he looked up at Patrick and Noah. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" He was sitting at the kitchen table with his two brothers. It was one of the few times that the Jacksons were alone in their house; their dad had gone out earlier, before they had even woken up.<p>

"Well," Patrick let out a sigh through his nose before motioning over to Noah. "We walked to Rhuben about it and we think that it's a good idea." He lightly scratched his eye. He was wearing make-up, and underneath it was a black eye that still stung, but he tried to keep it from looking like it was bothering him.

Beside him, Noah nodded. "It's the perfect timing, Dad is out and will be gone for a while, we don't have to work today," he looked at his watch. "But we're waiting for Riley to get back from the store," he looked slightly concerned as she looked over at Sydney again. "You'd figure she would be back by now."

"She probably got caught in traffic," Sydney looked up as Rhuben walked out of her room, tying her hair up in a ponytail. "Good, you're done with your shower."

"Yeah, I don't smell nearly as much anymore," Rhuben replied and kissed him on the cheek. She then looked at her brothers. "What's with the serious looks on your guys' faces?"

"We were thinking about giving Logan a break, and telling the guys what's going on?" Noah replied, gauging her reaction. She just looked back at him and then opened her mouth. "We would talk to Riley about it, to see what she says, but she's still at the store and isn't answering her cell phone."

"Oh," Rhuben nodded once and then thought about it. Would it be worth it? The pain would finally be gone. Her friends would stop worrying. Logan would be off the hook. Kendall, Carlos, and James wouldn't be left in the dark.

Rhuben smiled a little when she thought of James, when she thought of what they had done together. When they woke up after having sex, they just smiled at each other, enjoying each other's company. Then Rhuben started to mentally worry, they had sex, and he was probably going to leave her, now that they had done it. But then James had leaned forward and kissed her again, whispering to her that he wasn't going to go anywhere and that he loved her. _He loved her. _Rhuben had never had a guy tell her that before and mean it, but she knew that he did mean it. She couldn't say it back to him, not yet, but that was ok. At least, he said it was ok; he was going to give her time to say it. Then the two had gotten cleaned up and dressed (taking separate showers) and just lay down on the couch, watching TV until the others got home. They were holding hands the whole time, but it was hidden out of sight, under a blanket.

It was no one else's business yet.

Rhuben felt a feeling of guilt, all of that and she hadn't told James what was really going on with her and her siblings. They really did deserve to know the truth.

"Rhu-Rhu," Noah pressed after a few moments.

"Yeah," Rhuben nodded slowly, a weight coming off of her shoulders. "Yeah, it's a good idea." She looked at her watch. "We should probably wait for Riley, but I think we should just head over there and tell them now, while Dad is still gone and we don't lose the nerve to do it."

So that's how they ended up at the Palm Woods a few minutes later. Patrick had gotten nervous though, he was muttering to himself, constantly running his hands through his hair. Noah was silent, as usual, but Sydney was pressed against his side, holding on tightly. Rhuben let out a deep breath as she raised a hand and knocked on the door, waiting for someone to answer.

"Hey Bella," Logan greeted with a nervous smile he seemed to have on his face permanently now. "Hey guys, come in." He took a step back and allowed them to enter the apartment. Kendall, James, Carlos, and Katie looked up, pausing the video game they were playing.

James grinned and got off the couch, walking over to her. Rhuben blushed when she spotted him, not sure what to say, but then James walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek, and gently wrapped his arms around her in a hug, she relaxed.

"Hey Beautiful," he grinned.

"Hey," she smiled back.

"What are you guys doing here?" Katie asked with a pleased smile as the others crowded around. "I thought-"

"We have something very important to tell you," Patrick interrupted, looking at his feet. He could feel the tension in the room immediately rise, he could feel it radiating behind him. _Calm down, Logan. We know what we're doing. We're doing the right thing._

"Where's Riley?" Kendall asked, almost passively.

"She's shopping." Noah said quietly.

There was silence after that. Carlos looked around, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Well," he broke the silence. "What did you guys want to say?"

"We…" Sydney spoke up and scratched the back of his neck."Uh, we uh. You see," he cleared his throat. "We need to tell you that-"

He jumped as the door burst open with a loud bang and Robert Jackson stood in the doorway of the apartment, his eyes wide and darting around. He was seething with anger. Kendall moved in front of Katie, moving her out of harm's way. Robert's eyes darted around, looking at each of his kids, and then he opened his mouth and started to yell.

"WHERE IS SHE?" He roared.

James took one look at Logan's face and then turned to Rhuben, who was standing in front of him, her hands in fists, shaking. "What's wrong, Beautiful?" Getting no answer he moved over to her and wrapped his arms around her and then turned a glare to Robert. "What do you want?"

"WHERE IS SHE?" He screamed again, moving into the room, causing the others to back way. "WHERE IS THAT BRAT? SHE TOLD! DON'T BELIEVE HER, SHE'S A FUCKING LIAR!" All of a sudden there were three police officers in the apartment. Two of them grabbed onto Robert's arms and dragged him kicking and screaming out of the apartment.

Kendall turned to Logan, his eyes set in a glare. "You knew didn't you?" he accused. "You knew that they were being abused." Logan lowered his eyes to the floor as Katie let out a gasp and started to cry. "Dammit! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?"

"We told him not to tell," Rhuben replied, holding onto James, who tightened his grip on her. "We made him promise not to tell!" She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Excuse me," the third police officer turned to Patrick and Noah. "Do you have another sister named Rilandon Jackson?"

"Riley?" Patrick's eyebrows rose. "Yeah, she's my sister, she's Rhuben's twin." He suddenly looked scared. "Oh my god, what did he do to her? She said that she went to the store! Did she come back when he was home, did he-"

"Calm down son," the police officer held up a hand. "You said she went to the store?"

"Why did you say it like that?" Noah asked, his voice shaking.

"We don't know where she is." The police officer replied. "We have reason to believe that she's missing."

Kendall's blood ran cold.

He turned and sprinted out of the apartment.

* * *

><p>(AN: Ok, you can start listening to the song now.)

Riley blinked away tears that threatened to spill over, threatened to become lost in the rain that poured down around her; she didn't want to lose her tears to the rain. It was dark, the sun had set a long time ago, all she had on was a thin jacket, but she was too numb to feel the cold. Beneath her, below the concrete of the bridge she was standing on, cars whizzed by, filled with people that were anxious to get out of the rain and to get home to their loved ones. All around her people walked with their umbrellas poking the sky, moving so fast she knew that none of them looked at her. Her clothes were soaked, her hood was useless, her hair was already plastered to her scalp from all of the rain. Her hands were shaking.

With the cold?

She wasn't so sure.

She shivered as a tear finally rolled down her cheek. She had never felt so completely abandoned before, her secret was out and she needed to find a place to go.

_Why'd you even think that you could keep the secret after all of these years,_ she thought harshly, angry more at herself than anything else. _Did you really think that you could handle it?_

She left the bridge and began to follow the muddy path through the park; it was the path that they would have followed had they met as usual. She passed a few people as she went. It didn't matter, she was still alone. And it didn't matter that she should have been home hours ago, she was going to find a new place to live, for all of them to live, she would find it, go back and get them, and then they were hide out there and live peacefully for the rest of their lives. They didn't have to depend on anyone or anything. They could take care of themselves.

In her mind she heard all the arguments they had thrown at one another wondering why they had never told, and all the while neither of them had changed their minds. Now she was left to wonder if they were wrong this whole time. It was an argument, she knew, that would never be resolved. Not now.

Staring at the ground as she walked, Riley let her feet take her wherever they decided. Wandering the paths through the park, and then the streets of the city she paid no attention to the setting or the people around her. They didn't matter to her now—never had really. She hadn't realized that something that she had once said could have been important to anyone; she couldn't believe that something she had said had really mattered. Lost in her thoughts she didn't know where she was going, nor did she care.

Riley swallowed the sob that was threatening to escape. She didn't realize that she had stopped walking until she looked up and saw, through her tears, all of the bright buildings around her. Diverting her gaze quickly she started running. She ran blindly through the streets, not caring where she went. Anywhere was better than there.

Out of breath she stopped running, sitting down on the chilly, wet sidewalk. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, shivering in the cold. Lowering her head so that her hair veiled her face she wept openly, unable to hold back the tears any longer. People passed on the street, but if they saw her they didn't pause; she was all alone. There was nowhere for her to go, no one to care. . . . But maybe. . . . She looked up and the warm, salty tears that streaked her face were stole away by the cold rain that assailed her. Maybe she was wrong. . . .

Maybe . . . there was someone . . . someone out there. She swallowed back her sobs and looked upwards at the dark, clouded sky. The rain clouds seemed to bear down on the earth, trying to smother it. It was possible that her life would get worse, there was always that chance, but it was also possible that things would improve. . . .

She got to her feet and started to walk again.

"Riley?"

Abruptly, she turned, her wet hair smacking her in the face, and spotted Kendall standing behind her, breathing heavily. His hair and clothes were soaked, his chest was heaving up and down, his breath was condensing in the air in front of him. Their eyes met and she wasn't sure what to do. Kendall took a step towards her and then stopped, still breathing hard.

Riley looked at her feet, and then looked up at him and then she was running towards him. Her feet pounded over the concrete, water splashed everywhere as she continued to run towards them. She slowed herself down, not wanting to crash into him as soon as she reached him, and then wrapped her arms around his neck. Kendall had opened his arms a split second before she reached him and he wrapped his arms around her waist and stood up straight, lifting her off of the ground as he hugged her.

He was slightly surprised to hear her crying, but didn't say anything about it. He just brought a hand up to her lower back, the other to her hair and held onto her just as tightly as she was holding onto him. They seemed oblivious to the rain that continued to come down around then as they hugged each other. Kendall didn't want to let go, in fear that he was going to lose her again.

"Where the hell have you been?" Kendall's voice cracked with emotion. "We've all been looking for you for hours."

"I'm sorry," Riley cried in to his shoulder. 'I'm sorry."

"It's ok," Kendall gently patted her back. "It's ok." He gently lowered her back down to her feet. "Thank god you're ok," he whispered into her ear, stepping back and letting her go. He then moved to her side. "C'mon," He put his arm around her. "Let's get you warmed up."

* * *

><p>"This room's empty," Kendall stated as he opened an empty apartment and turned on the light, moving to the side to allow Riley to go into the apartment before following her in. "I stole the keys from Bitters in a scavenger hunt game thing that we made a while ago and I forgot to give them back."<p>

Riley nodded, wringing out the bottom of her shirt. Kendall took the time to call Ronan and to tell him that he had found Riley, but that she was going to go home the next day, saying that his mom was going to let her stay at their apartment to sleep and to get warmed up. He hung up his phone and put it back into his pocket, looking over at Riley again as she continued to wring out her clothes. He was going to tell his mom he found her, but not after they talked.

Kendall stood behind her, his hands in his pockets. He wasn't sure how to start; whether or not to ask why she ran away or to just start explaining how he had found her.

"Don't worry, I'll start," Riley said, reading Kendall's thoughts. "The only reason that I ran away was because I knew from the look in your face, that you knew that were being abused." She turned to him, bending to the side and wringing her hair out onto the floor. In the distance a low rumble could be heard. "And I was so…"

"Humiliated?" Kendall guessed.

"Yeah," Riley's eyes narrowed. "Well, after dad had caught us," she flushed and looked away. "And after he beat me, he demanded to know whether or not we had told Ronan or anyone because they had accused him of beating us too. So he waited until the others got back and beat them as well. At that point, I knew I had enough and I knew I had to find a better place for us to live. So when I knew you knew, I had to get out of there." She shrugged. "So I bolted."

"That makes sense, I guess," Kendall rubbed the back of his neck. "But if you ran away because of all of that, why did you come back here so willingly?"

"I'm tired of living on the streets," Riley replied with a heavy sigh. "If someone knew, then it would be easier for us to finally get things over with." Her eyes narrowed. "How'd you know where to find me?"

"That's a long story," Kendall replied and walked over to the bed and sat down on it. He ran his fingers through his hair, pulling his beanie off of his head. "Well, not too long I guess. Long story short, though, I thought back to a conversation that you and I had once before, where you said if you ran away, the only way someone would find you is if they really knew you." He twisted his mouth to the side. "Then I thought of where I would go."

"Oh," Riley crossed her arms over her chest. "Why did you come looking for me?"

"Thinking that you were abused, I had to know for sure." Kendall was messing with his shoe lace now. "And how was I going to know if you were gone?"

"Why?" Riley demanded turning to face him, some of her wet hair stuck to her cheek. "Why do you care so much about whether or not we're abused?"

"Because I couldn't bear the thought of having one of my friends going through the same thing I did." Kendall replied looking her right in the eye.

"What?" Riley whispered and then shook her head. "Wait, you were abused to?" She raised her eyebrows. "Is that why you hate your dad so much? Why you won't ever talk to him?" Then her eyes widened and she leapt to her feet, suddenly angry again. "You lied to me! _That's_ what your knee injury was!" She looked at him in disgust. "Not from a hockey injury!"

"So," Kendall looked calm. "You lied to all of us."

"That's because-"

"You don't have to tell me why," Kendall interrupted gently. "I know why." He patted the bed next to him. "Come sit down. I want to explain to you what happened with my dad." He waited until Riley finally sat next to him before speaking. "I didn't let mom or Katie know what was going on with me and dad because I didn't want them to worry. Every time my mom and sister weren't around he would whack me and break things and blame me for them. Mom thought that I was being destructive because I was growing up and didn't know how to handle it, which is one of the reasons why she signed me up for hockey I suppose."

"I was good at keeping it a secret, no one knew. Not even Logan, James, or Carlos, which is surprising because Logan is so smart I figured he would have found out about me pretty quickly," he looked over at Riley as she made a noise. "Which is why I was mad that he knew about you guys and didn't say anything. But mostly I was mad that it was happening in basically the exact same way that it happened to me, but all of you guys were being hit." He licked his lips. "Anyway, playing hockey got me stronger and whenever my dad would knock me around, I would hit him back. What I didn't know was at the time he and my mom were having trouble and realized that they weren't in love anymore and-"

"And you thought that your abuse, and fighting your dad, was causing him to take his anger out on your mom and cause the divorce of your parents." Riley supplied.

"Exactly," Kendall nodded. "And I was so ashamed of it, and I guess I still am, or I would have told Katie and my mom. But I haven't and I probably never will, unless it's absolutely necessary because they've already been through enough and they don't need to deal with it anyway. But anyway, after I saw how weird you guys were acting, I started having these really weird dreams about someone calling my name and I was looking for them, and when you guys came back they started getting worse, so I stopped sleeping. But that caused my mind to wander and I started to look up different signs of abuse and realized that everything that I had ever exhibited, you guys had done too, so I started to, obsess I guess."

"I obsessed enough that it was all that I could think about, even when I was with Jo. So the day that I came over to your house, I was talking to Jo and-"

"Oh my god!" Riley leapt to her feet and grabbed onto the ends of her hair, moving so fast that Kendall's eyes widened. "I kissed one of my best friend's boyfriends! And then I _yelled_ at her, oh my god, she hates me!"

"No, no, no," Kendall got up and grabbed onto her shoulders. "You didn't let me finish." He chuckled a little. "Well, she tried to tell you I guess, but she knew that I had...have very strong feelings for you. And, stupidly enough, I only agreed to going out with her because I was mad that you couldn't tell that I liked you so much and you said that you didn't care who I went out with. I went out with her to try and get over you, but," he smiled gently. "I guess that didn't work. So, she thought that if we kept dating, my feeling may change, but after a while knew that that wasn't going to work. So she sent me over to talk to you," he looked amused. "When you kept running away from me," he added, causing Riley to blush. "And what I wanted to see was, if I kissed you, would that finally let me realize how much I love you and how much I couldn't get over you. And it worked, but before I could tell you that, your dad came home, and I used that moment to wait outside of your house, to see if my assumption about you guys' being abused was true, and it was."

Riley frowned.

"After that, I went back to Jo's apartment and when she saw me, she knew that I was in love with you. She didn't take it too hard though, because she started spouting out a lot of different stuff about true love." Kendall cleared his throat. "I'm sorry I had to use you like that, but, I love you so much, I had to know. And it scared me half to death when I thought that you had run away and I wasn't going to see you again. Before I got the word that you dad was arrested, I thought he had murdered you or something."

"Please," Riley whispered, trying to sound tough but failing. "I'm not that weak." She then wrapped her arms around his waist, burying his face into her chest. "Thank you for finding me."

Kendall looked at the top of her head. "Didn't you hear what I said?"

"Yes," Riley mumbled into his chest. She tilted her head back, her arms still around his waist. "You love me," she rested her chin on his chest. "I love you, too."

She then stood on her tip-toes, and then very lightly, pressed her lips to Kendall's. She kissed him so softly, just brushing her lips over his face, his eyes wide with surprise. His eyes smiled back at her and then he returned her kiss, his arms slowly finding their way around her waist, pulling her tight against him.

Timidly, Riley ran her hand down his side, across his broad back, exploring his body. The low groans he made assured her he approved and she grew bolder with her touch, her hand daring to reach as far as his ass, very softly squeezing the firm flesh there.

His hands were doing exploring of their own. Though he felt a great deal of urgency in this exploration, he forced himself to go slow, afraid of startling her, scaring her beyond reason. But she started it first…so he hoped that it was ok. Kendall started at her neck, stroking the sensitive base with his thumb, before making his way lower, to her small breasts. He ran his hands over them cautiously, and then squeezed when she showed no adverse reaction. In the contrary, she was giving him moans of her own, as he massaged her in his one hand, the other wrapped tightly around her waist.

She was kissing him with more vigor now, eagerly pulling off his shirt. He kissed her back, hands still massaging, reaching now to find the end of her tank-top and then struggling to remove it. She lifted herself, arching her back, allowing him to slip it off and then crush her against his chest once again. This time the feel of skin on skin had them both reeling. She gasped when she felt him shift, and start to kiss her neck, her cheeks immediately flushing.

Suddenly he pulled away, and she felt almost annoyed with him. He gently pushed her down onto the bed and then climbed over her. She felt his hands again, this time cupping her between her thighs, his hand so large and warm. It felt so wickedly good to have his hand there, so arousing that he would not budge even as she squirmed to clench her legs shut. His lips still on her, his tongue still exploring her mouth, he bent one finger and firmly pressed it to her most sensitive part and started to rub. She gasped against his mouth, unable to move as his finger worked against her. She closed her eyes and began to move her hips now, desperately trying to enhance his efforts.

Kendall pulled away for a moment, wiggling out of his jeans and boxers and grabbed a condom from his wallet, giving Riley time to pull off her jeans. Then he was leaning over her again; his eyes on hers, he lowered his head and initiated the slowest, sweetest kiss, trying to pour into it every emotion he felt for her, trying to reassure her that she shouldn't be afraid, that he would be gentle. She kissed him back, opening her mouth eagerly, softly stroking his tongue with her own.

When Kendall pulled back, Riley no longer looked so scared, in fact, she had a…dare he say it, seductive look in her eye. He gave her another peck on the lips, and then moved down to remove her panties, the last barrier between them. Hugging her tightly, Kendall pressed his hips against her thigh, kissing her neck, allowing her to feel his arousal. She shrank back at first, surprised, but then pressed against him with her thighs, reached down with one hand and grasped it. He groaned at her touch, head falling to her shoulder, murmuring nonsense into her ear as she squeezed and caressed him. Abruptly, he snatched her hand, placed it around his neck. He lowered his head, kissed her full on the lips as he positioned his hips between hers.

Her eyes widened when she felt him so hard and insistent against her core, instinctively felt the urge to move her hips. His kiss continued, hoping to reassure her, distract her somewhat as he began the first slow thrust. He was slow, just pressing against her, not forcing his way in, instead allowing her to get used to him entering bit by bit. She gasped when the head fully entered her, heard his corresponding groan. She watched with wide eyes as his head fell back as he continued to enter slowly.

He could feel the barrier now and stilled. He tightened his arms around her, kissing her desperately, unwilling to cause her pain. She knew it was coming and braced herself. He whispered an apology and then thrust himself hard into her, holding her tight as though wanting to absorb the pain himself. She tensed for a while, feeling more a numb sting than outright pain, and then smiled up at him. He seemed unsure of how she felt, so she reached up and stroked his neck, pulled him down to kiss her.

With a groan, Kendall gave himself up to the kiss, started to move his hips again, withdrawing and then thrusting deep into Riley. She held tightly to him, moved her hips up to meet his, gasped as she felt him caress her most intimately. He leaned down to kiss her again and she responded without restraint, showing him with her lips how much she loved him, how much she wanted him. Riley wrapped her legs around his waist, thrust her hips upwards. Kendall groaned and closed his eyes, thrusting deep into her now, unable to stop. She felt that feeling again, knew something was coming, was close. He dropped his head to her neck, bit the soft skin there, sucked hard as he tried to hold himself back.

She moaned as his thrusts came faster, could feel that urgency in her own muscles as they strived to reach that goal. She wrapped her arms around Kendall's neck and kissed him hard, rolling him over until she was on top. Now was her turn to move her hips, bouncing up and down on him, Kendall's hands, tentatively, found their way to her hips then travelled up to cup her breasts. Riley, on the other hand, slowly started building up a pace and let out small cries of pleasure each time his member hit her g-spot. She felt on the edge of a great cliff, and with one last thrust from Kendall, she fell, headfirst, into a dizzying orgasm. Kendall kept thrusting, now searching for his own pleasure, finally emptying himself into the condom.

Riley finally caught her breath and opened an eye. He was holding her so tightly, forehead covered in sweat. She couldn't help but smile as she watched him open his eyes and look at her with such love and feeling. She stroked his neck gently, and he raised his head, placed his lips on hers and kissed her slowly and gently, pouring his heart into that touch. She kissed him back, smiling.

Carefully, he untangled himself from her, regretfully withdrawing from her warm, tight sheath, before gathering her once again into his arms. He kissed her forehead, feeling so content to just lay there with her against him. Riley glanced up at him to find him looking back at her and leaned up for a kiss. He obliged, smiling, and then settled her against his chest to sleep. She wiggled, making herself comfortable in his embrace and then closed her eyes.

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><p><strong>AN: So did you listen to the song? I hope that the crescendo towards the end of the song was just when Riley went running towards Kendall and then the two had hugged. That's exactly what I pictured when I first listened to the song after a long time. I hope you liked that.**

**And just like last chapter, I didn't want to go into too many gross/pervy details about Kiley having sex. The way that I see it, as Rhuben is more submissive in a relationship and Riley can be more dominant, they would have similar yet different sexual experiences. I hope that you didn't think that it was too weird though, because I had a hard time trying to explain Kendall's and Riley's feelings for each other before they had it and…well, let me know what you think and I'll work on it, the constructive criticism will really help as this is the first story where I've written sex scenes.**

**So anyway, there you see where the dreams came from, they were basically Kendall's subconscious telling him that he has such a strong connection with Riley that he could basically feel her emotions about wanting to run away, and then could 'see' where she went. You see that Riley kept running away from Kendall when he was at her house because she didn't want to be the reason that he and Jo broke up, and **

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter and all of its drama. I'll update again soon. Only three chapters left.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	18. The Morning After

**.:CHAPTER SEVENTEEN – The Morning After:.**

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><p>Kendall shook slightly, opening his eyes when he heard a beeping sound. As he looked around, he noticed that he wasn't in his room. Disoriented, he sat up and turned his wrist to his face, looking at his watch. He pressed the button on the side and yawned again when it saw that it was only 5:00 in the morning.<p>

At the sound of a sigh beside him, Kendal nearly jumped out of his skin, but then relaxed when he saw that Riley was beside him, her bare back was facing him and she was breathing deeply, obviously asleep. In the light of his watch he spotted the tattoo that was on her back as well as a few of the scars that she had. Frowning, he reached out and lightly touched one.

With a start, Riley's eyes flew open and she quickly flipped around, pulling the sheet up her chest. "Don't do that, you dill!" she whispered when she realized that it was him. "You scared me half to death!"

"Sorry," Kendall apologized. "Sorry, I was just looking at some of the scars…on your back." He rubbed his neck. "They must have hurt." He made a face; one that mirrored Riley's when he realized how lame it sounded. "Yeah, I know." He stated, knowing that that was what she was thinking too.

"Um," Riley pulled the sheet up to her neck. She tilted her head down, her black hair falling over her face, and held out her right hand shyly looking up at Kendall through her hair. "Could you hand me my clothes?"

Kendall, suddenly aware of his own nakedness, slid out of the bed and onto the floor. He grabbed his underwear and his pants and slid them on, before standing up and collecting his shirt, shoes and socks, and well as Riley's clothes. He looked away as he handed her clothes out to her. He turned his back to her, his thoughts racing a mile a minute as he waited for her to get dressed.

_I can't believe that we __slept__ together! _Kendall thought with a frown as he pulled his shirt on over his head, before bending down to put on his shoes and socks._ Ugh, she probably hates me now, I mean, I just broke up with Jo, Riley and I hadn't even started dating and I like, jumped her. Well, she did say that it was ok, and we did use protection, so I have no worries there. But what if-_

"You can turn back around now," Riley's voice stated, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Kendall hesitantly looked over his shoulder, and then turned around completely when he was sure that she was completely dressed. The two didn't say anything for a while; they just kept looking at each other, each waiting for the other to say something first.

Riley started to say something, but Kendall didn't hear her because she was speaking so quietly.

"I'm sorry," Kendall took a hesitant step towards her, but kept his distance all the same. "What did you say?"

"Did it…feel awkward to you at all…?" Riley asked, wringing her hands together, acting very much unlike herself. But it was like Logan had told Kendall before, Riley used her tough exterior and acted like nothing bothered her as a façade, as she was actually a very sensitive person and cared about others to the point where she wanted to please them before herself. "I mean…what we did…?"

"No, not at all," Kendall replied honestly. "To be perfectly honest, I've had sex once before, with my girlfriend at the time, and we both knew that it felt awkward. But with you…at the risk of sounding corny…it felt right." He studied her face. "Was it your first time?"

"Well, considering the fact that I don't really trust guys, yeah I'd think it would be," Riley replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Kendall knew that that was her way of showing him that she was relaxing again. Her face softened. "Yes, it was."

"Um," Kendall licked his lips. "Did it… did I…hurt you in some way? Is that why you were crying?" At her blank look, he clarified. "Yesterday, when I found you."

"No," Riley shook her head, starting to rub her left arm. "That's not why I…" she let out a breath. "Look, can we just, talk about this later? I have to get home…so my sister and the boys…and Ronan know I'm ok and everything…"

_Great, now I've scared her away. _Kendall nodded slowly.

Riley gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek and then walked over to the door to the empty apartment and looked back at Kendall as she opened the door. "I'll see you later, Hockey-Head." She gave a soft smile.

Kendall smiled back.

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><p><strong>AN: Yeah, I know, one of the shortest chapters of the story, I wasn't really sure what to do before this chapter and the next one, so it's a filler. I might update again later today to make up for it, but if not, I'll just update tomorrow. Only two chapters left.**

**Oh and Rhuben and I were talking last night and we realized that many of the things that we have put into our stories have also coincidentally been put into an episode of BTR. It's a weird 'coincedence'. I might upload the next chapter later today, so keep your eyes peeled.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	19. Back To Normal?

**.:CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – Back To Normal?:.**

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><p>"Hurry up, Hockey-Head, or we're going to be late meeting our friends." Riley called from the front door of apartment 2J, Patrick by her side, as Kendall went around, grabbing stuff. "Where are we meeting them anyway?"<p>

"The pool," Kendall replied simply as he grabbed a towel and then walked over to join her.

"Hm, the pool," Riley mused and then smirked up at her boyfriend. "Sounds romantic to me."

"That's what I was thinking," Kendall replied and Riley smiled as he leaned over and kissed her.

"Well," Patrick smiled as he walked through the kitchen to grab an apple. "Glad to know that I'm not feeling any tension around you two anymore." He turned it over and took a large bite, grinning happily at the couple.

"What are you talking about?" Riley shot her brother a confused look. "We haven't fought in a while."

"No, sexual tension," Patrick replied and continued to look over his apple as Kendall and Riley exchanged glances. "I mean, right before we left to go to Australia I felt this overwhelming amount of-"he suddenly stopped and his eyes grew wide as he looked over at Kendall and Riley, who looked back at him. His eyes grew wide, he pointed at them, and then he opened his mouth. "OH MY GOD!" He shouted. "You two-"

Riley moved quickly and tackled her brother onto the ground, slapping a hand over his mouth. Patrick struggled underneath her, making mumbling sounds behind her hand as her weight pressed down onto his back. Even though he was taller than her, she could easily knock him onto the ground. Kendall laughed as she blew her hair from her face.

"Are you going to yell if I move my hand?" she asked slowly. Patrick shook his head. "Are you sure?" He nodded. "Ok," she slowly moved his hand away.

Patrick looked at her and then looked over at Riley. "You two rooted?" he asked in a whisper. Still leaning over his back, Riley nodded. "Are you crazy?" He was speaking only to Riley. "What if you caught something?"

"I'm clean," Kendall held his hands up.

"Ok, what if you got pregnant?"

"We used a condom," Riley replied and then, to make light of the situation rolled her eyes. "Patrick, I'm 18, it was bound to happen eventually."

"I know _that_," Patrick rolled his eyes as well. "But I didn't think…" he let out a sigh and then looked defeated. "I'm not going to tell Ronan, because it's none of his business. But you know that the others are going to find out like 'that' right?" He snapped his fingers for emphasis, speaking of the rest of their siblings. It was hard for them to keep anything from each other. Especially Sydney, who had a specialty of 'accidentally' eavesdropping on people.

"I know," Riley replied calmly. "And I'll probably tell them myself."

Patrick wrinkled his nose. "You're not going to, like, do it all the time now, are you?"

"No," Kendall couldn't help but blush as he shook his head. He looked over at Riley. "We agreed that we'll wait a while before we do it again. Right now, we're taking things really, _really_ slow." Riley nodded in agreement.

"Well," Patrick hesitated. "Ok, but I want you to know," he turned and looked at Kendall seriously. "If you hurt her, I will personally kill you." He let out a sigh of relief as Riley got off of his back and allowed her to pull him to his feet. "I'm going down to the pool now."

"Wait up," Riley said as she put her sunglasses over her eyes. Patrick gave a suspicious look between the two of them before leading the way down to the pool. He broke off of the older teenagers and went over to Katie, Lizzie, Noah, and Sydney, who were talking when he came up.

"Hey, where were you?" Lizzie asked, giving him a hug.

"I was talking to Kendall and Riley." Patrick replied as he pushed Sydney to the side and sat down on a pool chair.

"Funny," Noah gave an impish smile as he turned to his twin. "I was talking to James and Rhuben earlier."

"Them too?" Patrick raised his eyebrows. He then smirked when Noah smiled and nodded. Patrick let out a whistle and a laugh. "Really?" Noah nodded again. "Huh, I didn't see that coming, did you give the whole 'you hurt her, I hurt you thing?" Another silent nod, but Noah's smile was wider. "Good, good."

Sydney just smiled.

"What?" Katie demanded, slapping her hands onto her hips. "What's going on with them?"

"Nothing," Noah reassured her, shaking his head back and forth. "Don't worry about it."

"You know I'm going to find out."

"I don't doubt you."

Lizzie started to laugh, which caused the rest of them to burst out laughing as well. She smiled as she watched the three boys laugh and talk animatedly to Katie. Unfortunately her plan to make her friend think that she was dating the twin boys didn't really work. It had worked to make her jealous, but it didn't work to cause them to date. When she had found out that they were being abused, about three months ago after their father had been sent to jail, she realized that it made sense of a lot of the behavior that they had exhibited whenever she was around them. It made even more sense when they didn't want to hang out when they had come back from Australia. But after talking to the three of them about it, Patrick and Noah explained to her and Katie that they were afraid that they would become so angry that they would hit their friends, which was also the reason why they didn't want to date Katie, just because they were so scared of hurting her in some way.

At first Katie was shocked that they had worried about her so much that they had kept a potentially dangerous secret from her. Then she punched them both in the arm, saying that she could have easily taken their father if they had told her. All of them had laughed and that was that, they were friends again with no problems. But the Jacksons were even happier, especially now that Ronan had adopted them, but of course not everything had changed. They kept their new look with wearing a lot of black, but had decided to get rid of their horribly flippant attitudes.

"So is that every secret?" Logan asked as Riley and Kendall sat down with their friends. "I think that's everything."

"You know you didn't have to tell us every secret you know, Logie-Bear," Rhuben stated as she reached out and lovingly mused his hair from where she was sitting on James' lap. "Not that we're not entertained." She added quickly at Jo, Camille, and Stephanie's sharp looks.

"I'm sorry," Logan shook his head. "But after having to keep your guys' secret, which nearly killed my by the way," he added, glaring at the twin girls. "I'm glad that everything is back to normal."

"Normal?" WayneWayne snorted. "I wouldn't say that everything is back to normal."

"What makes you say that?" Stephanie asked.

"Well, Dak is dating the girl that is probably the most out of his league," Riley commented and looked over at Dak and Jo, who just smiled back at her, their intertwined hands on the table.

"Shut up, Riles." Jo commented, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, and Patrick and Noah _aren't_ fighting over Katie's attention," Carlos added and slapped his helmet twice. "That's not normal."

"Trust me, it's a good thing," Kendall remarked, causing the others to laugh.

"Yeah," James spoke up. "And WayneWayne _doesn't_ have a girlfriend, that's not-" he paused and then grinned. "Actually, that's pretty normal." WayneWayne rolled his eyes as the others laughed at his expense.

"Haha guys," he smirked. "You're such a riot."

"Aren't we though?" Camille smiled and tucked her hair behind her ears. "So, girls, sleepover at my house tonight?"

"Can't," Rhuben shook her head. "We have late night studio work."

"Ooh," James wrapped his arms around her waist. "Can we come and watch?"

"I don't think you can," Rhuben replied after a second of pretending to think. "Because I think that Gustavo is going to have you guys killed by then for some reason or another. In fact," she looked at her watch. "I think he should be calling you guys in three…two…one…"

"WHERE ARE YOU DOGS?"

Dak and WayneWayne jumped as Big Time Rush looked fearful. "What did you guys do now?"

"I don't know," Carlos whimpered, leaning into Stephanie's side, who laughed and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek.

"if I were you, I'd get going now." Jo advised.

"DOGS!"

"Run!" Kendall declared and leapt out of his chair and sprinted out of the Palm Woods Pool, Logan, Carlos, and James running after him as fast as they could, shouting their goodbyes over their shoulders.

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><p><strong>AN: Yep, another short chapter, and the last chapter is a short one too. Thanks for reading this story you guys, I loved writing this a lot, I'm glad you all stuck with it. I'll update again soon with the final chapter.**

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	20. I'm With You

**.:CHAPTER NINETEEN/TWENTY – I'm With You:.**

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><p>"I've got to go," Kendall said as his flight was called. He put down his hockey magazine and then smiled as Riley handed him his carry-on bag. He gave her a kiss that lasted for a while, breathing heavily when he finally pulled away. "I'll see you when I get back?"<p>

"Of course," Riley replied with a raised eyebrow. "Just don't get too much of a big head, Superstar," She advised with a smirk, crossing her arms over her chest. "I've seen what it can do," she tilted her head back. "Just look at what it did with Patrick."

"Don't let him hear you say that," Kendall replied and put his arm over her shoulder and the two started to walk over to the gate, where the rest of BTR and DE were saying goodbye. "I didn't think that I would be going back to Minnesota for this amount of time." He squeezed her shoulder. "I'm excited."

"Now you know how we feel when we got back home," Riley replied, looping her arm around his waist and sticking her hand in his back pocket. "Excited, but sad since we have to leave you guys." She shrugged. "But at least we're not cold."

"But at least I can play hockey." Kendall reminded her.

"Yeah, I think I got that, Hockey-Head," Riley pulled his beanie off of his head and slid it onto her own. "Hey," she stopped next to everyone else, who were talking quietly. Well, in Gustavo's case, his 'quiet voice' something that Riley and Rhuben tried to teach him how to use, was still yelling. "Whatever happened to that nickname that you were going to give me to annoy me?"

"Oh that," Kendall grinned as he pulled his bag up his shoulder. "I came up with a lot of them," Riley raised her eyebrows. "Let's see, there was Atom Bomb, because when you get made it's like a violent explosion," he explained. "Tinkerbelle; because whenever you get mad your face turns red, Rage; that's self-explanatory but it's already your stage name, Butterfingers; because you're such a klutz, and Gustavo Jr. because you yell a lot, but then it nearly made me puke when I realized that if I made out with a girl I nicknamed Gustavo Jr. it would _immediately_ turn me off."

"Yeah, I'd think so," Riley replied with a chuckle.

"So in the end, I decided to give you a nickname that accurately describes you, but wouldn't annoy you," Kendall replied and smiled, resting his forehead against hers. "Ruby; because you're beautiful, and your favorite color is red."

"Shut up," Riley snickered and lightly pecked him on the lips.

"Ahem," Ronan grabbed onto Riley's head and pulled her back. "We're right here you know." Kendall gave him a nervous smile. Ronan was cool and really laid back, but as soon as he had adopted the Jacksons, he seemed to have a tight rein (IE was really nervous) with Riley and Rhuben dating. Especially since they were dating their 'musical competition.'

"You're going to have to get used to us dating eventually, Ronan." Rhuben commented and smiled as James kissed her cheek.

"Really," Patrick smirked at her. "He's also going to have to get used to you having-"He let out a cry of pain as Noah stomped on his foot, effectively cutting off his sentence. Noah looked over at Rhuben and winked at her, and she grinned and gave him a thumbs up back.

Sydney laughed.

"Well, I think we should be getting on our plane." Kacy said as she looked at her watch and then turned to Ronan. "You being new to parenting and all, call me if you have any trouble, I'll be back here in a flash."

Ronan laughed and slid his hands into his pockets. "I think I'll be fine," he replied. "Besides, you have to watch over your guys, they can get into a lot of trouble as soon as you turn your back on them."

"I think they figured that out by now," Sydney said, his arms wrapped around Ronan's leg. "I mean, what with Gustavo turning away for a minute and they were already down Rodeo drive defacing a billboard."

"We were _defacing_ it, we were making it better," Carlos defended himself.

"By putting an eye patch on Gustavo?" Katie snorted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hey," Kendall mimicked her motion. "I think Gustavo would look good with an eye patch!"

"I'll give you a reason for an eye patch," Gustavo replied. "IF YOU DON'T GET ON THE PLANE NOW! MOVE IT! MOVE IT! MOVE IT!"

The four boys scrambled for their bags and hurried onto the plane with Gustavo yellowed after them as he followed them. Kelly sighed as she turned back to the Jacksons. "Don't be surprised if the plane goes down." She joked and then waved and got on the plane too.

"Keep in touch," Kacy said with a wave.

"We will," Ronan promised with a smile. "Have fun back home, and to try and get some peace and quiet."

"With these guys, no way that's going to happen." Katie declared, rolling her eyes. Then she and her mother got onto the plane.

"Oh, hey, you guys didn't say goodbye," Ronan stated as he looked over at his five newly adopted kids.

"Why say goodbye?" Rhuben raised and lowered one shoulder. "We're going to see them again, it's not like they're going away forever."

"No, no, Ronan's right," Noah said with a smile. "Let's say goodbye. On '3' ok?"

"Why do I get the feeling that you're going to do something stupid?" Ronan mused to himself.

"1, 2, 3." Noah counted.

"GOODBYE!" The Jacksons shouted in unison towards the gate, ignoring the odd looks that everyone gave them as they did so. They then kissed the palms of their hands and pretended to throw kisses towards the plane.

"You guys are such dorks." Ronan stated, shaking his head.

"But we're _you're_ dorks, Ronan," Sydney reminded him, patting Ronan on the back. "We're _you're_ dorks. Let's go home."

**THE END**

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><p><strong>AN: Meh, the ending was kind of corny, but I liked it anyway. Soooo….that's the end of my first Kiley centered story. Thanks to everyone that reviewed and favorite and alerted and thanks for Pebbles9072 for requesting this story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It was interesting to show how similar Kendall and Riley are, yet completely different at the same time. In other words, their relationship has many faces, but it's perfect. Hahaha**

**Don't forget that we take requests, as this was a requested story, thanks again for reading, and I'll see you at my next story. :)**

**Cheers,**

**-Riley**


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